Serum concentrations of DDT and DDE among malaria control workers in the Amazon region.

Background: In Brazil, DDT was used to control malaria-transmitting mosquitoes from 1945 to 1997. Owing to concerns about the potential adverse health consequences of long-term exposures to DDT, workers of the National Foundation of Health (FNS) who had taken part in malaria control operations in the Amazon region were monitored for blood levels of DDT as well as for their health status between 1997 and 2001.

Objectives: To evaluate blood levels of DDT/DDE and elimination half-life (t(1/2)) of pp'-DDE in malaria control personnel.