Research Links DDT Byproduct to Increased Alzheimer’s Risk

New Jersey researchers have linked a byproduct of the pesticide dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT) to an elevated risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. They located the byproduct in blood samples from subjects in a small study. Lead author Jason R. Richardson, of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey, and his team published their findings in the Journal of the American Medical Association Neurology. The Alzheimer’s Association reports that more than 5 million people in the United States have Alzheimer’s disease.