Associations of serum concentrations of organochlorine pesticides with breast cancer and prostate cancer in U.S. adults
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Background: Organochlorine (OC) pesticides are a group of environmental endocrine disruptors that may be associated with an increased risk for hormone-related cancers including cancers of the breast and prostate. However, epidemiologic evidence is limited and inconsistent. Objectives and methods: We used 1999–2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data to examine associations between serum concentrations of OC pesticides and prostate and breast cancers. Results: After adjustment for other covariates, serum concentrations of β-hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) (p for trend = 0.02), trans-nonachlor (p for trend = 0.002), and dieldrin (p for trend = 0.04) were significantly associated with the risk of prevalent prostate cancer. Adjusted odds ratios for the second and third tertiles of detectable values were 1.46 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.52–4.13] and 3.36 (95% CI, 1.24–9.10) for β -HCH; 5.84 (95% CI, 1.06–32.2) and 14.1 (95% CI, 2.55–77.9) for trans-nonachlor; and 1.06 (95% CI, 0.30–3.73) and 2.74 (95% CI, 1.01–7.49) for dieldrin compared with concentrations in the lowest tertile or below the limit of detection. However, there was no positive association between serum concentrations of OC pesticides and breast cancer prevalence. Conclusion: Although further study is necessary to confirm these findings, these results suggest that OC pesticide exposures may have a significant effect on cancer risk. Efforts to reduce worldwide OC use are warranted.
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Some OC pesticides persist and remain detectable decades after bans, such as DDT.
“OC pesticides are persistent pollutants and some are detectable in the environment and human tissues decades after they have been banned, such as the OC pesticide DDT.”
From Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence (2014) · cites this paper as [128]
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- Authors
- Xu, X., Dailey, A. B., Talbott, E. O., Ilacqua, V. A., Kearney, G., & Asal, N. R.
- Affiliations
- University of Florida Health (US)
- University of Pittsburgh (US)
- Florida Department of Health, Division of Environmental Health, Tallahassee, Florida, USA
- Corresponding author
- Xu, Xiaohui
- Venue
- Environmental Health Perspectives
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Published
- 2009-09-03
- Volume
- 118
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 60-66
- ISSN
- 0091-6765 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-9924
- PMC
- PMC2831969
- OpenAlex
- W2106477645
- Cited by
- 163
- References
- 38
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 16 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 13
- FWCI
- 12.11
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- public-domain
- creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (vor, 3039 d)
- Locations
- Environmental Health Perspectives (publishedVersion, public-domain)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, public-domain)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Pesticide Exposure and Toxicity
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Effects and risks of endocrine disrupting chemicals
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Toxic Organic Pollutants Impact
- Keywords
- organochlorine pesticides, breast cancer, prostate cancer, serum pesticide concentrations, endocrine disruptors, beta-hexachlorocyclohexane, trans-nonachlor, dieldrin, cancer risk, environmental exposure
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aged, Hexachlorocyclohexane, Breast Neoplasms, Dieldrin, Environmental Pollutants, Female, Humans, Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated, Male, Middle Aged, Pesticides, Prostatic Neoplasms, Risk Factors, United States, Odds Ratio, Case-Control Studies, Young Adult
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