From: Sarah Howard
Sent: Thursday, February 02, 2012 4:37 AM
To: diabetesandenvironment@googlegroups.com
Subject: [DiabEnv] vitamin D deficiency and chemicals

This could be really important for many diseases linked to vitamin D deficiency, including type 1 and type 2 diabetes... some animal studies have found that POPs can interfere with vitamin D synthesis in animals but this may be the first study finding human associations...

Associations between Organochlorine Pesticides and Vitamin D Deficiency in the U.S. Population.

PLoS One. 2012;7(1):e30093. Epub 2012 Jan 25.

Yang JH, Lee YM, Bae SG, Jacobs DR Jr, Lee DH.
Department of Preventative Medicine, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Korea.

Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Recently low dose organochlorine (OC) pesticides have been strongly linked to various chronic diseases including diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Both field and animal studies have suggested a possibility that persistent lipophilic chemicals like OC pesticides can cause vitamin D deficiency, but there have been no human studies of exposure to any chemical as a possible cause of vitamin D deficiency. This study was performed to examine if serum concentrations of OC pesticides were associated with serum concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) in the U.S. general population.

METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:
Cross-sectional associations of serum OC pesticides with serum 25(OH)D were investigated in 1,275 subjects aged ≥20 in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey(NHANES), 2003-2004. We selected 7 OC pesticides detectable in ≥80% of participants. Among the 7 OC pesticides, p,p'-DDT (β = -0.022, P<0.01), p,p'-DDE (β = -0.018, P = 0.04), and β-hexachlorocyclohexane (β = -0.022, P = 0.02) showed significant inverse associations with serum 25(OH)D levels. When study subjects were stratified by age, race, and the presence of various chronic diseases, p,p'-DDT showed consistent inverse associations in all subgroups, although stronger associations tended to be observed among subjects with old age, white race, or chronic diseases.

CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE:
The current study suggests that the background exposure to some OC pesticides leads to vitamin D deficiency in human. Considering the importance of vitamin D deficiency in the development of chronic diseases, chemical exposure as a possible cause of vitamin D deficiency should be evaluated in prospective and experimental studies.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22295072