Associations between prenatal exposure to DDT and DDE and allergy symptoms and diagnoses in the Venda Health Examination of Mothers, Babies and their Environment (VHEMBE), South Africa.

ABSTRACT: Dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane (DDT) is an organochlorine insecticide that is banned internationally except for use as part of Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) programs to control malaria. Although animal studies show that DDT and its breakdown product dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethylene (DDE) affect the immune system and may cause allergies, no studies have examined this question in populations where IRS is conducted. The aim of our study was to investigate whether prenatal exposure to DDT and DDE is associated with allergy symptoms and diagnose among South African children living in an area where IRS is conducted. To accomplish this aim, we used data from the Venda Health Examination of Mothers, Babies and their Environment (VHEMBE), an ongoing birth cohort study of 752 children born betwe

SUBMITTER: Huq F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7336873 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature