--- title: DDT Breast Cancer: Mother's Exposure Linked to Disease description: Women previously exposed to the pesticide DDT while in utero face increased risk of breast cancer later in life, according to new research. canonical: https://time.com/3923291/ddt-pregnancy-breast-cancer/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-16T20:37:01.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:58:53.404Z article:section: Health og:title: DDT Exposure During Pregnancy Linked To Breast Cancer og:description: Women previously exposed to the pesticide DDT while in utero face increased risk of breast cancer later in life, according to new research. og:url: https://time.com/3923291/ddt-pregnancy-breast-cancer/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbf214f7e0146df25/698854c5f887dc3a40e90f2f/ddt-pesticide.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: DDT Pesticide og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: DDT Exposure During Pregnancy Linked To Breast Cancer twitter:description: Women previously exposed to the pesticide DDT while in utero face increased risk of breast cancer later in life, according to new research. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbf214f7e0146df25/698854c5f887dc3a40e90f2f/ddt-pesticide.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # DDT Exposure During Pregnancy Linked To Breast Cancer ## Video: TIME Explains: Obamacare's 'Health Panel' [Watch (HLS stream): TIME Explains: Obamacare's 'Health Panel'](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/QjM5tV3h.m3u8) (1:33)  _Published 2012-10-09. Will there be an unelected, appointed board deciding your treatment under the ACA? TIME explains the ins and out of Obamacare's 'Health Panel'_  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jun 16, 2015 8:37 PM UTC  Collection of pesticides, including DDT, that were still in use by some farmers in the 1970's. Photo was taken at a Kansas farm in 1976. Collection of pesticides, including DDT, that were still in use by some farmers in the 1970's. Photo was taken at a Kansas farm in 1976.Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jun 16, 2015 8:37 PM UTC Women who had been exposed to higher levels of the pesticide DDT while in utero face increased risk of breast cancer later in life than those who were exposed to lower levels, according to new [research](http://press.endocrine.org/doi/10.1210/jc.2015-1841). Researchers evaluated 54 years of data from women starting from the time they were in utero. Out of 9,300 women who had been tracked from even before birth, the study authors identified 118 women who had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Women whose mothers had been exposed to significant levels of DDT during pregnancy were four times as likely to have had breast cancer as their counterparts who had been exposed to a small quantity of the pesticide, according to the findings. The research, published in the _Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism_, shows “direct evidence” that higher DDT exposure in utero places women at increased risk of breast cancer, said study author Barbara Cohn, PhD, a researcher at the Public Health Institute in Berkeley, CA, in a press release. “Environmental chemicals have long been suspected causes of breast cancer, but until now, there have been few human studies to support this idea,” she said. The United States has banned DDT, one of the first known endocrine disruptors, since the 1970s. Still, many potentially affected women who were born that era are just reaching the age when they are at increased risk for breast cancer. Despite research that has found many health risks of DDT—the pesticide has been linked to [Alzheimer’s disease](http://healthland.time.com/2014/01/28/study-ddt-pesticide-linked-to-alzheimers-disease/), [obesity, and kidney and ovarian diseases](http://time.com/3028766/pesticide-exposure-diseases-obesity/)—some countries still use the chemical to fight malaria. The study authors say policymakers should consider the study as they evaluate whether to continue using DDT. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3923291/ddt-pregnancy-breast-cancer/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3923291/ddt-pregnancy-breast-cancer/"},"headline":"DDT Exposure During Pregnancy Linked To Breast Cancer","datePublished":"2015-06-16T20:37:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:58:53.404Z","description":"DDT has previously been linked to Alzheimer’s disease, obesity and kidney and ovarian diseases","url":"https://time.com/3923291/ddt-pregnancy-breast-cancer/","keywords":["toxins","Breast Cancer","Pesticides"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbf214f7e0146df25/698854c5f887dc3a40e90f2f/ddt-pesticide.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbf214f7e0146df25/698854c5f887dc3a40e90f2f/ddt-pesticide.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"DDT Pesticide","caption":"DDT Pesticide","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/toxins/","name":"toxins"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3923291/ddt-pregnancy-breast-cancer/","name":"DDT Exposure During Pregnancy Linked To Breast Cancer"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME Explains: Obamacare's 'Health Panel'","description":"Will there be an unelected, appointed board deciding your treatment under the ACA? 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