Persistent organic pollutants and the burden of diabetes.

摘要

Studies from the USA12 have drawn attention to the possibility that persistent organic pollutants might contribute to cause diabetes.36 Dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls, dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE, the main degradation product of the pesticide dichloro-diphenyltrichloroethane [DDT]), trans-nonachlor, hexachlorobenzene, and the hexachlorociclohexanes (including lindane) are some of the persistent organic pollutants most commonly found in human beings.78 Lipophilic and highly resistant to degradation, these pollutants are present in many fatty foods, usually at low concentrations.9 Because they contaminate virtually all people, even if they confer only a low individual risk of diabetes, these pollutants might have a substantial overall population effect.10Dae-Hee Lee and colleagues' recent study1 is the first to analyse serum concentrations of persistent organic pollutants and fasting plasma-glucose concentrations in a random sample of a general population. Previous studies have focused on selected populations, often occupationally or accidentally exposed to high levels of such pollutants. Not studying a less-exposed group might have led to a blurring of risks. Widely prevalent exposures are particularly difficult to isolate as causal agents.Concentrations of persistent organic pollutants in the study are typical of levels in many societies globally, and the risk of diabetes seems higher than ever.