Maternal serum level of 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethylene and risk of cryptorchidism, hypospadias, and polythelia among male offspring

1,1-Dichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethylene (p,p'-DDE) is a metabolite of the insecticide 2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)-1,1,1-trichloroethane (DDT) and is a ubiquitous environmental contaminant. Nearly everyone in the United States has a detectable serum level of DDE. DDE was recently found to inhibit binding of androgen to its receptor and to block androgen action in rodents. Normal development of male genitalia in mammals depends on androgen action. The authors used stored serum samples to examine the relation between maternal DDE levels during pregnancy and adjusted odds of cryptorchidism (n = 219), hypospadias (n = 199), and polythelia (extra nipples) (n = 167) among male offspring, using a nested case-control design with one control group (n = 552). Subjects were selected from the Collaborative Perinatal Project, a US birth cohort study begun in 1959-1966, when DDE levels were much higher than they are at present. Compared with boys whose mother's recovery-adjusted serum DDE level was less than 21.4 microg/liter, boys with maternal levels greater than or equal to 85.6 microg/liter had adjusted odds ratios of 1.3 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.7, 2.4) for crypt-orchidism, 1.2 (95% CI: 0.6, 2.4) for hypospadias, and 1.9 (95% CI: 0.9, 4.0) for polythelia. For cryptorchidism and polythelia, the results were consistent with a modest-to-moderate association, but in no instance was the estimate very precise. The results were inconclusive.