Study suggests DDT, breast cancer link

Exposure in childhood is key, quintupling the risk among women with high levels of the pesticide, researchers say.

By Marla Cone, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 30, 2007

Women heavily exposed to the pesticide DDT during childhood are five times as likely to develop breast cancer, a new scientific study suggests.

For decades, scientists have tried to determine whether there is a connection between breast cancer and DDT, the most widely used insecticide in history. The UC Berkeley research, based on a small number of Bay Area women, tested a theory that the person's age during exposure was critical, and provided the first evidence of a substantial effect on breast cancer.