Diabetes is one of the most prevalent and deadly diseases in the U.S. – and its cause, or causes, is subject to debate.

Millions of dollars in research funding and many studies have linked both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes to a cornucopia of causes or triggers: genetics, obesity, viruses, lack of exercise, breastfeeding, excessive hygiene, climate, age, ethnicity, high blood pressure, immunizations, lack of vitamin D and more.

Researchers are focusing more attention on possible contaminant or pollutant causes of diabetes. Studies have pointed fingers at arsenic, BPA, PCBs, selenium, Agent Orange, lead, benzene, other dioxins or combinations of those.

A new study suggests a link between diabetes and the chemical remnant of a deadly pesticide.

Traces of DDE are in the bodies of almost all Americans, the CDC has said. It is the metabolic residue of DDT, a lethal pesticide banned in America more than 35 years ago. Even though DDT is not used today, its chemical legacy lives on in DDE, produced as the body breaks down the pesticide, which was banned in the United States more than 35 years ago.

“Even though we haven’t used DDT in decades, its metabolites are still detected in almost everyone in the country,” said lead researcher Mary Turyk, an epidemiologist at the University of Illinois-Chicago’s School of Public Health, in a statement.

The newly released study looked at a large group of people who eat varying amounts of sport fish caught in the Great Lakes. The study started with 4,200 participants in 1992. Eleven years later, 1,788 of those original participants provided health information to the researchers, and 293 of those who gave blood in ’92 again provided samples in 2004-05.