Organochlorine Pesticides and Male Genital Anomalies in the Child Health and Development Studies

Abstract

Increasing rates of cryptorchidism and hypospadias in human populations may be caused by exogenous environmental agents. We conducted a case–control study of serum levels of p, p′-dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and its major metabolite, p, p′-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE), and cryptorchidism and hypospadias in the Child Health and Development Study, a longitudinal cohort of pregnancies that occurred between 1959 and 1967, a period when DDT was produced and used in the United States. Serum was available from the mothers of 75 male children born with cryptorchidism, 66 with hypospadias, and 4 with both conditions. We randomly selected 283 controls from the cohort of women whose male babies were born without either of these conditions. Overall, we observed no statistically significant relationships or trends between outcomes and serum measures. After adjusting for maternal race, triglyceride level, and cholesterol level, compared with boys whose mothers had serum DDE levels < 27.0 ng/mL, boys whose mothers had serum DDE levels ≥61.0 ng/mL had odds ratios of 1.34 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.51–3.48] for cryptorchidism and 1.18 (95% CI, 0.46–3.02) for hypospadias. For DDT, compared with boys whose mothers had serum DDT levels < 10.0 ng/mL, boys whose mothers had serum DDT levels ≥20.0 ng/mL had adjusted odds ratios of 1.01 (95% CI, 0.44–2.28) for cryptorchidism and 0.79 (95% CI, 0.33–1.89) for hypospadias. This study does not support an association of DDT or DDE and hypospadias or cryptorchidism.