Male fertility following occupational exposure to dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT).

Background: The inconsistent epidemiological results of the endocrine disrupting effects of DDT fuel a harsh debate on its global ban.

Objectives: We tested the hypothesis that occupational exposure to dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT) causes impairment in male fertility in a cohort of DDT exposed workers, in Sardinia, Italy.

Methods: We accessed official records on date of marriage and date of birth of the first child to estimate time to pregnancy (TTP) in the spouses of 1223 workers employed in a 1946-1950 anti-malarial campaign.

Job strain, hypoxia and risk of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: Results from a death certificate study.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) most likely results from a multifactorial gene-environment interaction. Strenuous physical activity and occupational exposures have been suggested to play a role, and an abnormal response to hypoxia has been proposed in ALS pathogenesis. To test the hypothesis of an excess risk in occupations typically leading to intermittent hypoxia at the tissue level, we accessed a large publicly available database, including death certificates from 24 U.

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase polymorphism and lymphoma risk.

Aims And Background: Evidence linking the glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) polymorphism and risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is conflicting. Risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma was increased in subjects expressing the G6PD deficient phenotype, whereas subjects under medication with statins, a lipid-lowering class of drugs partially mimicking G6PD deficiency, seemed to enjoy a protective effect.

Methods: We conducted a case-control study on lymphoma risk associated with the self-reported G6PD deficient phenotype in 122 lymphoma male cases and 116 male controls in Sardinia, Italy.

Causes of death among lead smelters in relation to the glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase polymorphism.

Objective: To assess, by updating a follow-up mortality study of a lead smelters cohort in Sardinia, Italy, the adverse health effects following occupational lead exposure in relation to the glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) polymorphism.

Method: The 1973-2003 mortality of 1017 male lead smelters were followed-up, divided into two subcohorts according to the G6PD phenotype: whether G6PD deficient (G6PD-) or wild-type (wtG6PD). Deaths observed in the overall cohort and the two subcohorts were compared with those expected, on the basis of the age-, sex- and calendar year-specific mortality in the general male population of the island.

Reproductive outcomes following environmental exposure to DDT.

We used official statistics of births and stillbirths in 1945-1954 to evaluate reproductive outcomes in the general population following use of DDT during a 1946-1950 anti-malarial campaign in the Italian region of Sardinia. Due to the disruption of registration systems in the World War II years, data in the pre-DDT years were available only for 1945-1946. Such a short period of observation, and social conditions in the war and post-war years, do not allow exclusion of adverse effects of DDT on birth rate; however, we did not observe an effect.

Cancer mortality among men occupationally exposed to dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane.

Several studies have evaluated cancer risk associated with occupational and environmental exposure to dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT). Results are mixed. To further inquire into human carcinogenicity of DDT, we conducted a mortality follow-up study of 4,552 male workers, exposed to DDT during antimalarial operations in Sardinia, Italy, conducted in 1946 to 1950.

Reproductive outcomes in DDT applicators.

Objectives: To explore reproductive outcomes in relation to occupational exposure to DDT.

Methods: We inquired into the reproductive history, including total number of children, sex distribution in the offspring, time-to-pregnancy, and number of spontaneous abortions and stillbirths, of the spouses of 105 men first exposed to DDT in a 1946-1950 anti-malarial campaign in Sardinia, Italy. The time-to-pregnancy in months at the first successful conception was estimated from population Registrars.

Serum sex hormones in men occupationally exposed to dichloro-diphenyl-trichloro ethane (DDT) as young adults.

To explore endocrine effects in relation to para,para'-dichloro-diphenyl-dichloro ethylene (p,p'-DDE) body burden and past occupational exposure to its precursor dichloro-diphenyl-trichloro ethane (DDT), we assayed serum sex hormones, including serum luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), 17beta-estradiol (E2), testosterone and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), and p,p'-DDE levels in 107 male participants in a 1946-1950 anti-malarial campaign in Sardinia, Italy. Cumulative DDT exposure during the anti-malarial operations was retrospectively estimated from detailed reports of the anti-malarial agency. Ortho,para-DDE, and its precursor ortho,para-DDT were always below the detection limit.