Study - Great Lakes Fish Linked To Diabetes

Chrissie Cole

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Consuming fish caught in Lake Michigan has been linked to diabetes through a chemical byproduct of the pesticide DDT, according to a new study in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

The study followed Great Lakes boat captains for 15 years. It found that those who ate more finish had more DDE in their blood, a byproduct of DDT, and were more likely to develop diabetes.

DDT has been banned in the U.S. for 37 years. But prior to the ban, the pesticide was heavily used in areas around the Great Lakes and still remains in the water, as does its byproduct DDE, because of slow turnover in the lakes.

Bruce Fowler of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry at the CDC said DDE becomes more concentrated as it proceeds up the food chain from small fish to larger fish.

How DDE causes diabetes was not determined.