Grants and Fellowships | 2014

30 Multi-Year Research Grants The Exposure of Pregnant Women and their Offspring to Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals and Organophosphate Pesticides There is a growing concern of the possible health effects posed by exposure to environmental contaminants. Of specific concern are vulnerable populations such as pregnant women and their developing fetuses. Phthalates, which are widely used in industry, are considered to be endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), with a possible anti-androgenic effect. Organophosphate pesticides (OP) are widely used in agriculture and gardening; but while their possible effects in terms of carcinogenesis and neurologic disturbances have been widely studied, only few studies looked into the association of exposure with birth outcomes. Data are therefore lacking on the effects of phthalates and OPs on the developing fetuses, and there are no such data from Israel. Our main objectives are to estimate intrauterine exposure to phthalates and OPs in the Jerusalem population, and to estimate the association of such exposures with birth outcomes and anthropometric features of the reproductive system. Our secondary objectives are to estimate the sources of exposure and the correlation between levels of these materials in amniotic fluid, maternal urine, and fetal urine collected soon after birth, in order to evaluate the validity of urine tests in estimating intrauterine exposure. We are conducting a cohort study of women in their first trimester or early second trimester of pregnancy. Ongoing data collection started in September 2012. Data collection includes an interview and maternal urine sample upon recruitment, amniotic fluid and a second urine sample during follow-up visits in the second trimester, postpartum interview, examination of the offspring including anthropometric measurements of the anogenital distance (AGD), and a neonatal urine sample. All samples are kept in -80°c until shipment to the Friedrich Alexander University in Germany, for laboratory analysis. As of May 2014, about 290 pregnant women have been recruited, of whom 93% were eligible for follow up and 164 have reached term. Of the 132 births that were identified at Hadassah, 102 neonates were examined by the study's neonatologists. In July 2014, 175 specimens from 73 women and their offspring were shipped for laboratory analysis. Ronit Calderon-Margalit 1 Ronit Haimov-Kochman 2 Tamar Berman 3 Zivanit Ergaz-Shaltiel 2 1. Hebrew University – Hadassah 2. Hadassah Medical Center 3. Israel Ministry of Health 2012-