PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - M. Gascon
AU  - M. Vrijheid
AU  - D. Martínez
AU  - F. Ballester
AU  - M. Basterrechea
AU  - E. Blarduni
AU  - A. Esplugues
AU  - E. Vizcaino
AU  - J.O. Grimalt
AU  - E. Morales
AU  - J. Sunyer
AU  - on behalf of the INMA project
TI  - Prenatal exposure to DDE and infant's lower respiratory tract infections and wheeze
AID  - 10.1183/09031936.00011711
DP  - 2012 Jan 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - erj00117-2011
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/early/2011/11/09/09031936.00011711.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/early/2011/11/09/09031936.00011711.full
AB  - to examine whether prenatal exposure to dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) increases the risk of lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) and wheeze in infants.the study is based on a birth cohort of 1455 mother-child pairs. Maternal serum concentrations of DDE, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) were measured during pregnancy. Parental reports on LRTI and wheeze were obtained when children were 12–14 months old.35.4% of children developed at least one LRTI episode and 33.6% at least one wheezing episode during their first 12–14 months of life. Median DDE, PCBs, and HCB concentrations were 116.3, 113.7 and 46.4 ng·g−1 lipid, respectively. DDE concentrations were associated with LRTI risk (relative risk (RR) per 10% increase (95%CI) 1.11 (1.00, 1.22)), also after adjustment for PCBs and HCB. In all quartiles of DDE exposure the risk of LRTI was increased compared to the lowest quartile, but the increase was statistically significant only in the 3rd quartile (RR (95%CI) 1.33 (1.08, 1.62)). No association was observed for PCBs and HCB. Results were similar for wheeze.This study suggests that prenatal DDE exposure is associated with a higher risk of LRTI and wheeze in infants independently from exposure to other organochlorine compounds.