According to an article in the November 5th edition of the New York Times, scientists studied 248 women with surgically confirmed endometriosis and 538 healthy controls. They measured blood levels of two pesticides, mirex and beta HCH, which persist in some fish and dairy products even though their use in the United States has been banned for decades. The study appears online in Environmental Health Perspectives.
The researchers found that women with the highest exposure to mirex had a 50 percent increased risk for endometriosis, and those exposed to high levels of beta HCH a 30 to 70 percent increased risk.
The chemicals have been shown to interfere with normal estrogen action in animal and tissue studies, which might be a possible explanation for the illness in humans.
These pesticies are no longer in use be this demonstrates that chemicals can linger in the body for long periods.