Jose Suarez
University of California-San Diego, CA·Public Health & Epidemiology
Do pesticides used on farms harm the health of young people who grow up nearby? Sperm counts have fallen by 50–60% since the 1970s, reproductive disorders are rising, and mental health problems among adolescents and young adults have increased worldwide.
- Fields
Public Health & Epidemiology
Medicine & Clinical Research
Psychology
- Topics
pesticide exposure
ESPINA study
Ecuador
- Grants
- 2 known grants, through Jun 2030
What they work on
- Test whether insecticide and herbicide biomarkers in young women are linked to lower ovarian reserve, measured as anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH), and to altered thyroid hormones and testosterone in the ESPINA cohort.
- Test whether pesticide exposure is linked to delayed ovulation, using daily reproductive hormone measurements across one menstrual cycle, and to long or painful menstrual cycles.
- Test whether urinary pesticide biomarkers in young men are associated with lower motile sperm concentration, altered LH, FSH, estradiol, testosterone and thyroid hormones, and erectile dysfunction symptoms.
- Determine whether high pesticide spray seasons bring cyclical changes in depressive symptoms, externalizing behavior and cognition, using smartphone-based ecological momentary cognitive testing five times a year for two years.
- Relate acetylcholinesterase inhibition and urinary organophosphate, pyrethroid and neonicotinoid metabolites to mental health from 2016 to 2022, testing whether age, sex and COVID-19 stressors modify the links.
More about the research
Environmental chemicals may explain part of these trends. Both projects build on ESPINA (Secondary Exposures to Pesticides among Children, Adolescents and Adults), a long-running study begun in 2008 that follows young people in Pedro Moncayo County, Ecuador. The county has one of the largest concentrations of flower plantations in the Americas, where pesticides are used heavily. Repeated urine tests in this group measure markers of pesticide exposure over many years. One project studies fertility and hormones. The other studies thinking skills and mood.
Why it matters
Families who live and work near intensively sprayed farms, such as Ecuador's rose plantations that export to the United States, may face hidden risks to fertility, hormone health and mental health. By tracking exposure biomarkers over many years in one of the largest studies of its kind, this work could inform pesticide regulation and future risk assessments for reproductive, brain and mental health.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
The ESPINA Study 19th Year Follow-Up: A Longitudinal Investigation of Pesticide Exposures in relation to Fertility and Hormonal Health
NIH · Sep 2020 – Jun 2030
Cyclical Alterations In Neurocognitive Performance And Mood Over Two Years In Relation To Pesticide Spray Seasons Among Adolescent And Young Adult Participants Of The Espina Study.
NIH · Apr 2016 – Feb 2027
Closest labs
Amanda Kallen
University of Vermont, VT·Genetics
Chart the ovarian aging process in genetically diverse Collaborative Cross mouse strains with low Anti-Müllerian hormone and reduced fertility by measuring ovarian reserve, hormones, follicle development and molecular aging markers.
Adam Krieg
Oregon Health & Science University, OR·Physiology
Test whether priming macaques of advanced reproductive age or with poor ovarian response with anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) improves their response to gonadotropin stimulation and IVF outcomes.
Pauline Maki
Washington University in St Louis, MO·Neuroscience
Map longitudinal changes in brain structure, function, connectivity and memory across menopause stages in 220 women aged 40–59, staging menopause by bleeding criteria and anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH), and relating changes to estradiol.
The school
University of California-San Diego: 84 labs on PI Pages, $1.9B a year on research, 637 research doctorates a year.
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