Pesticide exposure may trigger food allergies   By Helen Albert,
Senior medwireNews Reporter  Results from the US National Health
and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) suggest that high
exposure to dichlorophenols, chemicals found in pesticides and
used for chlorinating water, may increase a person's risk for
developing food allergies.  Elina Jerschow (Albert Einstein
School of Medicine, Bronx, New York, USA) and colleagues tested
links between dichlorophenol exposure and allergic sensitization
in 2211 people included in the US NHANES 2005-2006 aged 6 years
and older.  Exposure to dichlorophenols was assessed by
measuring urine levels and was defined as high if concentrations
were greater than the 75th percentile of the population or
above.  Allergen-specific serum immunoglobulin E levels were use
to measure the prevalence of food (eg, peanut, egg, milk, and
shrimp) and environmental (eg, white oak, birch, mouse, and rat)
allergies, with levels above 0.35 kU/L or higher deemed to
indicate positive allergi