DDT in mothers linked to developmental delays in children, UC Berkeley study finds

Study finds that in utero exposure to DDT is linked to lower developmental scores in children, but nursing found to be beneficial, despite the fact that DDT is also transmitted through mother's milk

Since the 1970s, scientists have known that when DDT accumulates in a woman's tissues it can be transmitted to her developing fetus across the placenta. Now, a new study led by a team of researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, has found that such in utero exposure is associated with developmental delays in the young child.

The team also found that the longer the children nursed, the better they scored on developmental tests, despite the fact that DDT is also transmitted through breast milk. This was the case even with mothers who had high accumulations of the pesticide in their bodies, a finding that suggests that the benefits of nursing may outweigh the potentially harmful effects of DDT transmission through mother's milk.