Human reproductive system disturbances and pesticide exposure in Brazil

The observation of reproductive disturbances in humans and in the wildlife has been reported in the last decade in different countries. Exposure to different chemicals possibly acting in the endocrine system or endocrine disruptors, including pesticides, has been a hypothesis raised to explain the o...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Sergio Koifman (Author), Rosalina Jorge Koifman (Author), Armando Meyer (Author)
Format: Book
Published: Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz.
Subjects:
Online Access:Connect to this object online.
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The observation of reproductive disturbances in humans and in the wildlife has been reported in the last decade in different countries. Exposure to different chemicals possibly acting in the endocrine system or endocrine disruptors, including pesticides, has been a hypothesis raised to explain the observed changes. This paper aimed to present results of an epidemiological ecologic study carried out to explore population data on pesticides exposure in selected Brazilian states in the eighties and human reproductive outcomes in the nineties. Pearson correlation coefficients were ascertained between available data pesticides sales in eleven states in Brazil in 1985 and selected further reproductive outcomes or their surrogates. Moderate to high correlations were observed to infertility, testis, breast, prostate and ovarian cancer mortality. Despite the restrains of ecologic studies to establish cause-effect relationships, the observed results are in agreement with evidence supporting a possible association between pesticides exposure and the analyzed reproductive outcomes.
Item Description:0102-311X
1678-4464