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  • Title: Association between serum levels of organochlorine pesticides and sex hormones in adults living in a heavily contaminated area in Brazil.
    Author: Freire C, Koifman RJ, Sarcinelli PN, Rosa AC, Clapauch R, Koifman S.
    Journal: Int J Hyg Environ Health; 2014 Mar; 217(2-3):370-8. PubMed ID: 23972672.
    Abstract:
    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.
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