Results from the Pilot Study of a Birth Cohort of Environmental Exposure and Childhood Development - Pipa Project. Brazil.

Abstract

PDS 70: Green space, Johan Friso Foyer, Floor 1, August 28, 2019, 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM 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. 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. This work presents the results of these analyses. Methods: Mercury, lead, cadmium, and arsenic concentrations were determined in mother and umbilical cord blood samples of 117 mother-newborn pairs. Urine pyrethroid concentrations were analyzed in 142 mother samples and in 223 newborn samples collected at birth and during the 1st, 3rd and 6th months of life. Results: The median mother age was 27 years old, with a median family income of U$ 590.00; 75.7% of the women were not-white and 59.7% had over 10 years of study; 46% indicated tobacco exposure and 45.2%, alcohol consumption during pregnancy. A total of 57.25% newborns were male (total = 131). The birth weight median was 3.225kg (8.7% with weight <2.500 kg) and 8.8% were premature. 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.