Pesticides, Sexual Development, Reproduction, and Fertility: Current Perspective and Future Direction

Improvements in chemical analytical technology and non-invasive sampling protocols have made it easier to detect pesticides and their metabolites at very low concentrations in human tissues. Monitoring has revealed that pesticides penetrate both maternal and paternal reproductive tissues and organs,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Human and ecological risk assessment 2007-09, Vol.13 (5), p.1078-1110
Main Authors: Colborn, Theo, Carroll, Lynn E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
adverse effects
agriculture
Animal reproduction
Birth weight
Chemicals
endocrine disruption
Endocrine system
exposure
Fertility
fetal origin
Health hazards
Industrialized nations
Mortality
Pesticides
Risk assessment
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Summary:Improvements in chemical analytical technology and non-invasive sampling protocols have made it easier to detect pesticides and their metabolites at very low concentrations in human tissues. Monitoring has revealed that pesticides penetrate both maternal and paternal reproductive tissues and organs, thus providing a pathway for initiating harm to their offspring starting before fertilization throughout gestation and lactation. This article explores the literature that addresses the parental pathway of exposure to pesticides. We use DDT/DDE as a model for chemicals that oftentimes upon exposure have no apparent, immediate health impacts, or cause no obvious birth defects, and are seldom linked with cancer. Their health effects are overlooked because they are invisible and not life threatening-but might have significant health, social, and economic impacts at the individual and population levels. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the necessity to develop new approaches for determining the safety of pesticides and the need for innovative regulatory policy to protect human and environmental health.
ISSN:1080-7039
1549-7860
DOI:10.1080/10807030701506405