Birth Cohort of Environmental Exposure and Childhood Development - Pipa Project - Brazil

Abstract

Background/Aim: The PIPA project is a prospective cohort study, which will be initiated in the city of Rio de Janeiro (Southeastern Brazil), with the aim of investigating environmental pollutant effects on maternal-child health. The study will collect social, demographic, and health information, in addition to biological samples from parents and newborns, to evaluate metals, pesticides, and plasticizer exposure. All newborns will be followed for 48 months, and their landmarks of physical, neurological, psychological, and cognitive development recorded.Methods: The study population will be all children born at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro Maternity School, Rio de Janeiro/Brazil, for a period of 12 months. The study protocol includes interviews, physical exams, and collection of biological samples at the 7th month of pregnancy, birth, and the postnatal period until the age of 4. Results: A pilot study was carried out between September 2017 and August 2018, totaling 142 enrolled pregnant women, ensuing 135 (95%) births and the collection of umbilical cord and mother blood samples, and both mother and newborn urine samples. The lead and arsenic concentration medians detected in mother (As: 11.13 µg L-1; Pb: 3.75 µg dL-1) and cord (As: 10.71 µg L-1; Pb: 3.69 µg dL-1) blood were above the levels reported in other national and international studies. A good correlation between all metals in mother and cord blood was observed. Pyrethroids with increasing means throughout the 1st, 3rd and 6th months were observed in 39 (17.5%) newborn urine samples, without statistical significance, and in 69 (48.6%) mother urine samples.Conclusion: These results indicate the need for the establishment of health surveillance programs in Brazil, to investigate and monitor environmental pollutant exposure in children since gestation.