Table 5.
A Summary of Reports on Associations Between Prenatal DDE Exposure and Height or Body Mass Index
| Study | Children born | Sample size | Prenatal DDE (μg/g lipid)a |
Age at evaluation | Main findings on height or BMI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Collaborative Perinatal Project (CPP) (Ribas-Fito et al., 2006) |
1959-1966 | 1,289 to 1,540b | 3.08 (24.4 μg/l)c |
1, 4 and 7 years | High DDE (≥60 μg/l) as compared with low (<15 μg/l) was associated with reduction in height at 1 (−0.72 cm); 4 (−1.14 cm) and 7 (−2.19 cm) years of age. (BMI not reported) |
| CPP Philadelphia center (Gladen et al., 2004) |
1959-1966 (only males) |
304 | 5.7 | 10 to 20 years | No association with height or BMI |
| Child Health and Development Study (Jusko et al., 2006) |
1964-1967 | 399d | 5.88 | 5 years | No association with height. (BMI not reported) |
| NC Infant Feeding Study (Rogan et al., 1987) |
1978-1982 | 858 | ~1.7 (2.43 μg/g milk fat) (Rogan et al., 1986) |
1 year | No association with weight gain. (Height not reported) |
| NC Infant Feeding Study (Gladen et al., 2000) |
1978-1982 | 594 | ~1.6 | 10 to 16 years | Boys with high DDE (4+ μg/g) were 6.3 cm taller and 6.9 kg heavier at puberty than those with low (0-1 μg/g) exposure. No associations in girls |
| Michigan fish eater’s cohort: 2nd generation (Karmaus et al., 2009) |
1950-1980 (only females) |
129 to 151 | 3.67 to 4.46 μg/lc Extrapolated levels |
20 to 50 years | Compared with low DDE (>1.503 μg/l) women with 1.503- 2.9 μg/l had 1.65 kg/m2 greater BMI; those with >2.9 μg/l had 2.8 kg/m2 greater BMI. (Height not reported) |
| Flanders, Belgium (Verhulst et al., 2009) |
2002-2004 | 138 | 0.212 (0.243) Mean (SD) in cord plasma |
1 and 3 years | DDE was positively associated with BMI SDS, with effect modification by maternal smoking and child’s age: BMI was higher in children of smokers at age 1 year; at age 3 years the difference was reduced. No associations with height |
| Tapachula, Mexico (Present study) |
2002-2003 (only males) |
787 to 788 | 2.7 | 5 to 38 months | No association with height, BMI, and weight |
Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index; DDE, 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethylene; NC, North Carolina; SDS, standard deviation score
a
Medians are from maternal serum, unless otherwise is specified
b
A total of 993 subjects were selected based on their outcomes on neurological tests
c
Non-lipid adjusted
d
Sample selection was based on neurobehavioral deficits hypothesis