Study pairs pesticide and low testosterone levels

Living in a community where a common pesticide has gotten into the soil, water and air may interfere with sexual development in young men.

Until now, scientists had evidence only from laboratory animals that pesticides could affect the male reproductive system. The challenge was finding a place where they could look for the effects of a single pesticide on humans. They identified a community in northern Kerala, India, where endosulfan was the only pesticide sprayed for more than 20 years on the local cashew crop; spraying was discontinued in 2000.

Researchers from India’s National Institute of Occupational Health studied 117 schoolchildren ages 10 to 19 who lived in the foothills of cashew plantations. When compared with 90 young men from similar communities with no history of pesticide exposure, the young men exposed to endosulfan showed signs of delayed sexual maturity and lower-than-expected testosterone levels. The study appears in the December issue of Environmental Health Perspectives.

-- Jane E. Allen