McClatchy (8/16, Magness) reports that “exposure to DDE, which forms after the now-banned pesticide DDT breaks down, can as much as double the chance that a woman gives birth to” a child with autism, research indicated.
Newsweek (8/16, Gander) reports that researchers arrived at this conclusion after assessing “the blood taken from pregnant women to identify birth defects of 750 children with autism.” The findings were published online Aug. 16 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.
MedPage Today (8/16, Monaco) reports, “Offspring of mothers who fell into the highest 75th percentile of environmental exposure to p, p’-dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethylene (p, p’-DDE) – a metabolite of the insecticide dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) – had 32% higher odds of autism following adjustment for maternal psychiatric history, age, and parity,” the study found. But, “this association only applied to male offspring (OR 1.35, 95% CI 1.02-1.80, P=0.04); it wasn’t significant among female offspring although the point estimate was not markedly lower (OR 1.19, 95% CI 0.67-2.13, P=0.55),” investigators found.
Psychiatric News (8/16) reports, “The authors proposed two reasons for why DDT appeared to be linked with autism.” The first reason is that “DDT exposure is also known to increase the risk of both premature birth and small birthweight – two known autism risk factors.” The second reason is that “DDT can reduce the production of androgen receptors, another autism risk factor.”
Also covering the study are the ABC News (8/16, Kalra) website, Nature (8/16, Reardon), HealthDay (8/16, Gordon), Medscape (8/16, Brooks, Subscription Publication), Healio (8/16, Demko), and MD Magazine (8/16, Gingerich).
Related Links:
— “This banned pesticide may double the chance women have a baby with autism, study says, “Josh Magness, The Miami Herald, August 16, 2018.