ArticleEnvironmental health perspectives2018
Prenatal Exposure to DDT and Pyrethroids for Malaria Control and Child Neurodevelopment: The VHEMBE Cohort, South Africa.
Article in Environmental health perspectives, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 42 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
42 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 99 citations in OpenAlex.
- Assessing the combined impact of pesticide exposure and HIV/ART on child neurodevelopment in Eastern and Southern Africa: a systematic review.BMC pediatrics · 2025Pooled it
- Pesticides and neurodevelopment of children in low and middle-income countries: A systematic review.PloS one · 2025Pooled it
- Organic Pollutants Associated with Plastic Debris in Marine Environment: A Systematic Review of Analytical Methods, Occurrence, and Characteristics.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Pooled it
- Relationship between Autism Spectrum Disorder and Pesticides: A Systematic Review of Human and Preclinical Models.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- Embryotoxicity of pyrethroid insecticides and their mixtures in a human induced pluripotent stem cell-based model in vitro.Archives of toxicology · 2026Article
- Associations between concurrent neonicotinoid, pyrethroid, and organophosphate insecticide metabolites and neurocognitive performance in Ecuadorian adolescents.The Science of the total environment · 2025Article
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- Prenatal pyrethroid exposure, placental gene network modules, and neonatal neurobehavior.International journal of hygiene and environmental health · 2025Article
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- The association between prenatal pyrethroids exposure and children's health - current research.International journal of occupational medicine and environmental health · 2024Review
- Future in the past: paternal reprogramming of offspring phenotype and the epigenetic mechanisms.Archives of toxicology · 2024Review
- Child exposure to organophosphate and pyrethroid insecticides measured in urine, wristbands, and household dust and its implications for child health in South Africa: A panel study.Environmental epidemiology (Philadelphia, Pa.) · 2024Article
- Intercontinental insights into autism spectrum disorder: a synthesis of environmental influences and DNA methylation.Environmental epigenetics · 2024Review
- Association of Prenatal Exposure to Organophosphate, Pyrethroid, and Neonicotinoid Insecticides with Child Neurodevelopment at 2 Years of Age: A Prospective Cohort Study.Environmental health perspectives · 2023Article
- Iodine Deficiency, Maternal Hypothyroxinemia and Endocrine Disrupters Affecting Fetal Brain Development: A Scoping Review.Nutrients · 2023Article
- Emerging evidence that the mammalian sperm epigenome serves as a template for embryo development.Nature communications · 2023Review
- Investigation of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) on xenobiotic enzyme disruption and metabolomic bile acid biosynthesis in DDT-sprayed areas using wild rats.The Journal of veterinary medical science · 2023Article
- Review
- Exposure of pregnant women and their children to pyrethroid insecticides in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
10 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAlthough indoor residual spraying (IRS) with dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and pyrethroids effectively controls malaria, it potentially increases human exposure to these insecticides. Previous studies suggest that prenatal exposure to these insecticides may impact human neurodevelopment.
objectivesWe aimed to estimate the effects of maternal insecticide exposure and neurodevelopment of toddlers living in a malaria-endemic region currently using IRS.
methodsThe Venda Health Examination of Mothers, Babies and their Environment (VHEMBE) is a birth cohort of 752 mother-child pairs in Limpopo, South Africa. We measured maternal exposure to DDT and its breakdown product, dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE), in maternal serum, and measured pyrethroid metabolites in maternal urine. We assessed children's neurodevelopment at 1 and 2 y of age using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, third edition (BSID-III), and examined associations with maternal exposure.
resultsDDT and DDE were not associated with significantly lower scores for any BSID-III scale. In contrast, each 10-fold increase in
conclusionsPrenatal exposure to pyrethroids may be associated at 1 y of age with poorer social-emotional development. At 2 y of age, poorer language development was observed with higher prenatal pyrethroid levels. Considering the widespread use of pyrethroids, these findings deserve further investigation. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP2129.
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