Researchers found a link between two organochlorine pesticides and endometriosis, a painful condition that affects uterine tissue.
Endometriosis affects about 10 percent of reproductive-age women, and individuals who are exposed to the chemicals beta-hexachlorocyclohexane and mirex may be at a higher risk of suffering from the condition, a Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center news release reported.
The researchers found women who were exposed to the two chemicals had an elevated endometriosis risk of between 30 and 70 percent.
Endometriosis occurs when lining that is normally located inside the uterus grows outside instead and attaches to other organs. The condition is most commonly found in the "ovaries, fallopian tubes and lining of the pelvic cavity." It can cause painful menstruation, pelvic pain, and even infertility.
"For many women, the symptoms of endometriosis can be chronic and debilitating, negatively affecting health-related quality of life, personal relationships and work productivity," lead and corresponding author Kristen Upson, Ph.D., a former predoctoral research fellow in epidemiology at Fred Hutch and the University of Washington Today she is a postdoctoral fellow at the Epidemiology Branch of the NIEHS, said.
"Since endometriosis is an estrogen-driven condition, we were interested in investigating the role of environmental chemicals that have estrogenic properties, such as organochlorine pesticides, on the risk of the disease," she said.
Researchers have very little information on why endometriosis affects some women and not others, but this study may have gotten them one step closer. In order to reach their conclusion the researchers compared 248 women who had recently been diagnosed with endometriosis to those who had never suffered from the condition.
"We found it interesting that despite organochlorine pesticides being restricted in use or banned in the U.S. for the past several decades, these chemicals were detectable in the blood samples of women in our study and were associated with increased endometriosis risk," Upson said. "The take-home message from our study is that persistent environmental chemicals, even those used in the past, may affect the health of the current generation of reproductive-age women with regard to a hormonally driven disease."
Organochlorine pesticides have been observed to affect uterine function as well as hormone production in the past.
"Given these actions, it's plausible that organochlorine pesticides could increase the risk of an estrogen-driven disease such as endometriosis," Upson said. "We hope our findings will help inform current global policymaking to reduce or eliminate their use."
