Prenatal exposure to pesticides increases the risk of obesity in adolescence

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-04/bifg-pet042921.php

 

News Release 29-Apr-2021

Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal)

Exposure before birth to persistent organic pollutants (POPs)-- organochlorine pesticides, industrial chemicals, etc.--may increase the risk in adolescence of metabolic disorders, such as obesity and high blood pressure. This was the main conclusion of a study by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a research centre supported by the "la Caixa" Foundation. The study was based on data from nearly 400 children living in Menorca, who were followed from before birth until they reached 18 years of age.

POPs are toxic, degradation-resistant chemicals that persist in the environment. Examples of such compounds are pesticides and organochlorine insecticides (DDT, etc.). POPs have adverse effects on both human health and the environment and their use is regulated globally.

Prenatal exposure to these substances has been associated with cardiometabolic risk factors in childhood, but there were previously no studies assessing whether such associations continue into adolescence, a developmental stage characterised by significant changes in the endocrine system and rapid increases in body mass.

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The results of this study, published in the journal Environment International, suggest an association between prenatal POP exposure and a higher BMI in adolescence, particularly in the case of the fungicide hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and the insecticide compound dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT).

Exposure to these two organochlorides--HCB and DDT¬--was also associated with higher blood pressure in childhood and adolescence and increased cardiometabolic risk at 14 years of age.

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Martine Vrijheid, study coordinator and head of the Childhood and Environment Programme at ISGlobal, highlights the fact that "some of these substances could be considered endocrine disruptors, that is, chemicals that interfere with hormonal regulation". In her view "more studies are needed in this field, especially focussing on childhood and adolescence, which are critical developmental stages characterised by particular vulnerability".