1,1,1-Trichloro-2,2-bis (p-Chlorophenyl)-Ethane (DDT) and Reduced Bone Mineral Density

• Published in: Archives of environmental health Vol. 55; no. 3; pp. 177 - 180
• Main Authors: Beard, John, Marshall, Sonya, Jong, Kathy, Newton, Robert, Triplett-mcbride, Travis, Humphries, Brendan, Bronks, Roger
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC Taylor & Francis Group 01.05.2000; Heldref
• Subjects: Absorptiometry, Photon; Australia; Biological and medical sciences; Bone Density - drug effects; bone mineral density; Calcium, Dietary - administration & dosage; DDT - metabolism; Dichlorodiphenyl Dichloroethylene - adverse effects; Dichlorodiphenyl Dichloroethylene - blood; Environmental Exposure; Female; Hormone Replacement Therapy; Humans; Insecticides - adverse effects; Insecticides - blood; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Pesticides, fertilizers and other agrochemicals toxicology; Regression Analysis; Toxicology; Australia; Human; Mimetic hormone; Insecticide; DDE; Toxicity; Pesticides; Density; Pollutant; Bone mass; Organochlorine compounds; DDT; Delayed toxicity; Environment; Female; Bone
• ISSN: 0003-9896; 2331-4303
• DOI: 10.1080/00039890009603403

The organochlorine pesticide 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis (p-chlorophenyl)-ethane (DDT), is a well-known and widely dispersed "environmental estrogen" (World Health Organization Criteria no. 9; Geneva, Switzerland [1979]). Kelce et al. (Nature, 1995; 375:581-85) recently identified the DDT metabolite, 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethylene (DDE), has also recently been identified as a potent androgen receptor antagonist. The authors examined the relationship between serum levels of DDE and bone mineral density in 68 sedentary women who reported adequate dietary intake of calcium. Reduced bone mineral density was correlated significantly with age (r = -.36, p = .004), as well as with increases in the log of DDE levels in serum (r = -.27, p = .03). The authors also used multiple-regression analysis to examine the influence of other predictor variables on the relationship between log DDE and bone mineral density. The strongest model (p = .002) included log DDE (p = .018), age (p = .002), and years on hormone replacement therapy (p = .10) as predictor variables, and this model afforded prediction of 21% of bone mineral density variation. These results suggest that past community exposures to DDT may be associated with reduced bone mineral density in women.