Researchers from NYU sampled the blood of 30 children and young adults newly diagnosed with celiac disease and compared those results with those 60 young people without the disease. It was found that elevated levels of toxic chemicals found in pesticides, nonstick cookware and fire retardants were named as risk factors to being diagnosed with the disease.
“Our study establishes the first measurable tie-in between environmental exposure to toxic chemicals and celiac disease,” said senior study investigator and pediatric gastroenterologist Dr. Jeremiah Levine in a press release. “These results also raise the question of whether there are potential links between these chemicals and other autoimmune bowel diseases, which all warrant close monitoring and further study.”
In the reports, it was found that patients with high blood levels of pesticide-related chemicals called dichlorodiphenyldichlorethylenes (DDEs) were significantly more susceptible to be newly diagnosed with celiac disease as those without such levels.
Researchers also looked closely at the patients’ sex as well.
Females — who account for the majority of celiac patients — with higher-than-normal pesticide exposure were at least eight times more likely to have celiac disease.