Chronic nervous-system effects of long-term occupational exposure to DDT

Dichlorodiphenyttrichloroethane (DDT) is a compound with moderate toxicity that is judged to be safe for occupational use, although little is known ab out its long-term effects on the human nervous system. We investigated chro nic nervous-system effects of long-term occupational exposure to DDT by com paring the neurobehavioural performance of retired malaria-control workers with a reference group of retired guards and drivers, DDT-exposed workers d id worse on tests assessing various neurobehavioural functions than control s; performance significantly deteriorated with increasing years of DDT appl ication. Our results could not be explained by exposure to cholinesterase-i nhibiting pesticides or other potential confounding factors.