Journal
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HYGIENE AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
Volume 217, Issue 2-3, Pages 370-378Publisher
ELSEVIER GMBH
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijheh.2013.07.012
Keywords
Endocrine disruptors; Estrogenic compounds; Organochlorines; Pesticides; Testosterone
Funding
- Ministry of Health
- State of Rio de Janeiro Research Foundation (FAPERJ)
- CNPq [308986/2010-5]
- CNPq (INCT-Cancer Control)
- FAPERJ [E-26/102.869/2012]
- Brazilian National Research Council (CNPq)
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Background: Several studies have investigated the effects of organochlorine (OC) pesticides on adverse reproductive outcomes. However, few previous studies explored their effects on sex hormones. Objective: To examine the association between serum concentrations of OC pesticides and levels of sex hormones in adult population in a rural area in Brazil heavily contaminated with these pesticides. Methods: A cross-sectional study with 304 men and 300 women was undertaken. Wet weight serum concentrations of 19 OC pesticides (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane [DDT] and hexachlorocyclohexane [HCH], among others) were determined in all participants. Testosterone levels were obtained for men and estradiol, progesterone, prolactin, luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) for women. Associations between OC pesticides and sex hormones were evaluated using linear regression models. Results: Prevalence of women with non-physiological hyperprolactinemia was 4%. After adjusting for serum lipids and confounders, heptachlor and o,p'-DDT concentrations in men were associated with lower testosterone levels, while peri- and postmenopausal women (N=77) showed inverse associations between LH and hexachlorobenzene (HCB),p,p'-DDT,p,p'-DDD (dichloro-diphenyl-dichloroethane), endosulfan 1 and 2, aldrin and mirex, as well as between FSH and p,p'-DDD, endosulfan 1 and aldrin. Premenopausal women (N=210) did not show statistically significant associations between OC pesticides and sex hormones. Conclusions: Inverse associations between OC pesticide concentrations and testosterone in men and LH and FSH in peri-/postmenopausal women, together with the high proportion of women with elevated prolactin, suggest that these OC compounds may have triggered anti-androgenic effects in men and estrogenic effects in women in this population. (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier GmbH.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available