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The following are selected studies on the health effects of organochlorines and highlight the need for chemical detoxification in high risk exposed individuals.
Toxicity Overview
Alavanja, Michael CR, Jane A. Hoppin, and Freya Kamel. "Health effects of chronic pesticide exposure: cancer and neurotoxicity." Annu. Rev. Public Health 25 (2004): 155-197.
Androutsopoulos, Vasilis P., Antonio F. Hernandez, Jyrki Liesivuori, and Aristidis M. Tsatsakis. "A mechanistic overview of health associated effects of low levels of organochlorine and organophosphorous pesticides." Toxicology 307 (2013): 89-94.
Dewailly, Éric, Gert Mulvad, Henning S. Pedersen, Pierre Ayotte, Alain Demers, Jean-Philippe Weber, and Jens C. Hansen. "Concentration of organochlorines in human brain, liver, and adipose tissue autopsy samples from Greenland." Environmental health perspectives 107, no. 10 (1999): 823-828.
Ditraglia, David, David P. Brown, Tsukasa Namekata, and Norman Iverson. "Mortality study of workers employed at organochlorine pesticide manufacturing plants." Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health (1981): 140-146.
Longnecker, Matthew P., Walter J. Rogan, and George Lucier. "The human health effects of DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) and PCBS (polychlorinated biphenyls) and an overview of organochlorines in public health." Annual review of public health 18, no. 1 (1997): 211-244.
Marinković, Natalija, Daria Pašalić, Goran Ferenčak, Branka Gršković, and Ana Rukavina. "Dioxins and human toxicity."
Archives of Industrial Hygiene and Toxicology 61, no. 4 (2010): 445-453.
Singh, Zorawar, Jasminder Kaur, Ravneet Kaur, and Swarndeep Singh Hundal. "Toxic effects of organochlorine pesticides: a review." Am. J. Biosci 4, no. 3-11 (2016): 11-18.
Smith, A. G., and S. D. Gangolli. "Organochlorine chemicals in seafood: occurrence and health concerns." Food and Chemical Toxicology 40, no. 6 (2002): 767-779.
Breast Cancer
Aronson, Kristan J., Anthony B. Miller, Christy G. Woolcott, Ernest E. Sterns, David R. McCready, Lavina A. Lickley, Edward B. Fish et al. "Breast adipose tissue concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls and other organochlorines and breast cancer risk." Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention Biomarkers 9, no. 1 (2000): 55-63.
Bachelet, D., M-A. Verner, C. Guihenneuc-Jouyaux, Corinne Charlier, M. Charbonneau, S. Haddad, and P. Guenel. "Assessment of exposure to persistent organochlorine compounds in epidemiological studies on breast cancer: a literature review and perspectives for the CECILE study." Acta clinica Belgica 65, no. sup1 (2010): 49-57.
Calle, Eugenia E., Howard Frumkin, S. Jane Henley, David A. Savitz, and Michael J. Thun. "Organochlorines and breast cancer risk." CA: a cancer journal for clinicians 52, no. 5 (2002): 301-309.
Charlier, Corinne, Adelin Albert, Philippe Herman, Etienne Hamoir, Ulysse Gaspard, Michel Meurisse, and Guy Plomteux. "Breast cancer and serum organochlorine residues."
Occupational and Environmental Medicine 60, no. 5 (2003): 348-351.
Demers, Alain, Pierre Ayotte, Jacques Brisson, Sylvie Dodin, Jean Robert, and Eric Dewailly. "Risk and aggressiveness of breast cancer in relation to plasma organochlorine concentrations." Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention Biomarkers 9, no. 2 (2000): 161-166.
Gammon, Marilie D., Mary S. Wolff, Alfred I. Neugut, Sybil M. Eng, Susan L. Teitelbaum, Julie A. Britton, Mary Beth Terry et al. "Environmental toxins and breast cancer on Long Island. II. Organochlorine compound levels in blood." Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention Biomarkers 11, no. 8 (2002): 686-697.
Laden, Francine, Gwen Collman, Kumiko Iwamoto, Anthony J. Alberg, Gertrud S. Berkowitz, Jo L. Freudenheim, Susan E. Hankinson et al. "1, 1-Dichloro-2, 2-bis (p-chlorophenyl) ethylene and polychlorinated biphenyls and breast cancer: combined analysis of five US studies." Journal of the National Cancer Institute 93, no. 10 (2001): 768-775.
Laden, Francine, Susan E. Hankinson, Mary S. Wolff, Graham A. Colditz, Walter C. Willett, Frank E. Speizer, and David J. Hunter. "Plasma organochlorine levels and the risk of breast cancer: An extended follow‐up in the Nurses' Health Study." International journal of cancer 91, no. 4 (2001): 568-574.
López-Cervantes, Malaquías, Luisa Torres-Sánchez, Aurelio Tobías, and Lizbeth López-Carrillo.
Environmental Health Perspectives 112, no. 2 (2004): 207-214.
Moysich, Kirsten B., Peter G. Shields, Jo L. Freudenheim, Enrique F. Schisterman, John E. Vena, Paul Kostyniak, Hebe Greizerstein, James R. Marshall, Saxon Graham, and Christine B. Ambrosone. "Polychlorinated biphenyls, cytochrome P4501A1 polymorphism, and postmenopausal breast cancer risk." Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention Biomarkers 8, no. 1 (1999): 41-44.
Payne, Joachim, Martin Scholze, and Andreas Kortenkamp. "Mixtures of four organochlorines enhance human breast cancer cell proliferation." Environmental Health Perspectives 109, no. 4 (2001): 391-397.
Snedeker, Suzanne M. "Pesticides and breast cancer risk: a review of DDT, DDE, and dieldrin." Environmental health perspectives 109, no. suppl 1 (2001): 35-47.
Verreault, Reni, Pierre Ayotte, Louise Sauvi, Jacques Morin, and Jacques Brisson. "High organochlorine body burden in women with estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer." Journal of the National Cancer Institute 86, no. 3 (1994).
Wolff, Mary S., Anne Zeleniuch-Jacquotte, Neil Dubin, and Paolo Toniolo. "Risk of breast cancer and organochlorine exposure." Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention Biomarkers 9, no. 3 (2000): 271-277.
Cognitive Impairment - Alzheimer’s Disease
Kim, Se-A., Yu-Mi Lee, Ho-Won Lee, David R. Jacobs Jr, and Duk-Hee Lee. "Greater cognitive decline with aging among elders with high serum concentrations of organochlorine pesticides." PloS one 10, no. 6 (2015).
Kim, Ki-Su, Yu-Mi Lee, Ho-Won Lee, David R. Jacobs Jr, and Duk-Hee Lee. "Associations between organochlorine pesticides and cognition in US elders: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999–2002." Environment international 75 (2015): 87-92.
Singh, N. K., N. Chhillar, B. D. Banerjee, K. Bala, M. Basu, and Md Mustafa. "Organochlorine pesticide levels and risk of Alzheimer’s disease in north Indian population." Human & experimental toxicology 32, no. 1 (2013): 24-30.
Richardson, Jason R., Ananya Roy, Stuart L. Shalat, Richard T. Von Stein, Muhammad M. Hossain, Brian Buckley, Marla Gearing, Allan I. Levey, and Dwight C. German. "Elevated serum pesticide levels and risk for Alzheimer disease." JAMA neurology 71, no. 3 (2014): 284-290.
Zaganas, Ioannis, Stefania Kapetanaki, Vassileios Mastorodemos, Konstantinos Kanavouras, Claudio Colosio, Martin F. Wilks, and Aristidis M. Tsatsakis. "Linking pesticide exposure and dementia: what is the evidence?."
Toxicology 307 (2013): 3-11.
Parkinson’s Disease
Sanchez-Ramos, Juan, A. Facca, A. Basit, and Shije Song. "Toxicity of dieldrin for dopaminergic neurons in mesencephalic cultures." Experimental neurology 150, no. 2 (1998): 263-271.
Richardson, Jason R., Ananya Roy, Stuart L. Shalat, Brian Buckley, Bozena Winnik, Marla Gearing, Allan I. Levey, Stewart A. Factor, Padraig O'Suilleabhain, and Dwight C. German. "β-Hexachlorocyclohexane levels in serum and risk of Parkinson's disease." Neurotoxicology 32, no. 5 (2011): 640-645.
Richardson, Jason R., Stuart L. Shalat, Brian Buckley, Bozena Winnik, Padraig O’Suilleabhain, Ramon Diaz-Arrastia, Joan Reisch, and Dwight C. German. "Elevated serum pesticide levels and risk of Parkinson disease." Archives of Neurology 66, no. 7 (2009): 870-875.
Weisskopf, M. G., P. Knekt, E. J. O'reilly, Jukka Lyytinen, A. Reunanen, F. Laden, L. Altshul, and A. Ascherio. "Persistent organochlorine pesticides in serum and risk of Parkinson disease." Neurology 74, no. 13 (2010): 1055-1061.
Reproductive Health – Birth Defects
Campoy, C., F. Olea-Serrano, M. Jiménez, R. Bayés, F. Cañabate, M. J. Rosales, E. Blanca, and N. Olea. "Diet and organochlorine contaminants in women of reproductive age under 40 years old." Early human development 65 (2001): S173-S182.
Kalra, Swati, Pooja Dewan, Prerna Batra, Tusha Sharma, Vipin Tyagi, and Basu Dev Banerjee. "Organochlorine pesticide exposure in mothers and neural tube defects in offsprings."
Reproductive Toxicology 66 (2016): 56-60.
Michalakis, Michalis, Manolis N. Tzatzarakis, Leda Kovatsi, Athanasios K. Alegakis, Andreas K. Tsakalof, Ioannis Heretis, and Aristidis Tsatsakis. "Hypospadias in offspring is associated with chronic exposure of parents to organophosphate and organochlorine pesticides." Toxicology letters 230, no. 2 (2014): 139-145.
Ribas-Fitó, Núria, Beth C. Gladen, John W. Brock, Mark A. Klebanoff, and Matthew P. Longnecker. "Prenatal exposure to 1, 1-dichloro-2, 2-bis (p-chlorophenyl) ethylene (p, p′-DDE) in relation to child growth." International journal of epidemiology 35, no. 4 (2006): 853-858.
Toft, Gunnar, Lars Hagmar, Alexander Giwercman, and Jens Peter Bonde. "Epidemiological evidence on reproductive effects of persistent organochlorines in humans." Reproductive Toxicology 19, no. 1 (2004): 5-26.
Toft, Gunnar. "Persistent organochlorine pollutants and human reproductive health." Dan Med J 61, no. 11 (2014): B4967.
Vested, Anne, Aleksander Giwercman, Jens Peter Bonde, and Gunnar Toft. "Persistent organic pollutants and male reproductive health." Asian journal of andrology 16, no. 1 (2014): 71.
Waliszewski, Stefan M., Angel A. Aguirre, Rosa M. Infanzón, and José Siliceo. "Carry-over of persistent organochlorine pesticides through placenta to fetus." salud pública de méxico 42 (2000): 384-390.
Estrogen Effects
Salehi, Fariba, Michelle C. Turner, Karen P. Phillips, Donald T. Wigle, Daniel Krewski, and Kristan J. Aronson. "Review of the etiology of breast cancer with special attention to organochlorines as potential endocrine disruptors." Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part B 11, no. 3-4 (2008): 276-300.
Soto, Ana M., Kerrie L. Chung, and Carlos Sonnenschein. "The pesticides endosulfan, toxaphene, and dieldrin have estrogenic effects on human estrogen-sensitive cells." Environmental health perspectives 102, no. 4 (1994): 380-383.
Prostate Cancer
Hardell, Lennart, Swen-Olof Andersson, Michael Carlberg, Louise Bohr, Bert van Bavel, Gunilla Lindström, Helen Björnfoth, and Claes Ginman. "Adipose tissue concentrations of persistent organic pollutants and the risk of prostate cancer." Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 48, no. 7 (2006): 700-707.
Van Maele-Fabry, Geneviève, Valérie Libotte, Jan Willems, and Dominique Lison. "Review and meta-analysis of risk estimates for prostate cancer in pesticide manufacturing workers." Cancer Causes & Control 17, no. 4 (2006): 353-373.