The Norwegian Mother And Child Study: Environmental Specimen Collection

National Institute Of Environmental Health Sciences

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Abstract

The Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) is an ongoing pregnancy cohort study, with the aim of enrolling 110,000 pregnancies by 2008. The study is based on questionnaires completed by the mother and father, and biological specimens are collected from the mother, father and child. The main purpose of the study is to find causes of diseases. NIEHS is providing partial support for the study, and in 2002 expanded the data collection protocol to include collection of more biologic specimens from the mothers during the 17th week of pregnancy (additional serum, a specimen of whole blood collected in a trace-element free container, and urine). These specimens will enhance the ability to examine the relation of environmental exposures in relation to various health outcomes in the children and their mothers. As of April 30, 2008, 72,227 subjects had provided blood and urine that was collected in conjunction with NIEHS. We expect about 8,000 additional subjects to be recruited before enrollment closes.[unreadable] [unreadable] In the past year, in preparation for a new study in MoBa, we published a paper on the ability of various laboratories to measure a group of environmental contaminants that we plan to study, perfluorinated alkyls. We have also nearly completed work on a report about levels of 3 types of environmental contaminants in the urine of MoBa mothers: organophosphate pesticides, bisphenol A, and phthalates. The levels of bisphenol A and organophosphate pesticide metabolites were higher than in the U.S., making the MoBa resource an especially valuable setting for studies of associated health outcomes.[unreadable] [unreadable] Another activity in the past year was to add to the MoBa protocol the collection additional urine specimens in pregnancy, at weeks 23 and 29, for a subset of women. We anticipate that by the fall of this year about 600 women will have a complete set of three urine specimens from pregnancy. At this time we are putting in place a protocol to measure the levels of metabolites of organophosphate pesticides and bisphenol A in these specimens, to determine how reproducibile the levels are. This information will help us plan future studies on associations with health outcomes.[unreadable] [unreadable] Because the study is still in the subject enrollment phase, writing of scientific reports is still relatively limited. At NIEHS, we are developing studies that will be nested within MoBa. The current list of planned studies includes: Pregnancy Serum Levels of Perfluoroalkyl Chemicals in Relation to Infant Growth, Risk Factors for Cleft Lip and Palate, A Search for the Non-mendelian Transmission of Human Genes, Mother's Physical Activity During Pregnancy and Fetal Loss, Dietary Intake and Gestational Diabetes, Physical Activity in Pregnancy and Infant Neurodevelopment, Maternal Autoantibodies against Folate Receptors as a Risk Factor for Folate Sensitive Birth Defects, Organophosphate Pesticide Exposure and Risk of Autism, and the Etiology of Cerebral Palsy.