| Summary: | Pesticides are widely dispersed in the environment and exposure to them is almost unavoidable, mainly through the food chain. During the peak period of its use, DDT was so ubiquitous that it could be detected in ice core samples taken in the Antarctic, even though it had never been used on that continent. Pesticides have been one of the most intensely studied of possible carcinogens in the environment. As with other environmental exposures, epidemiological research into the health effects of chronic pesticide exposure is subject to methodological challenges, and our understanding of the relationship between exposure and health remains limited. This article describes some of the challenges facing environmental epidemiology, and some of the recent developments in molecular epidemiology that may assist these challenges. To assist the reader, a glossary of terms is provided toward the end of the article.
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