NCT00013858

Environmental Contaminants and Infant Development

• Status: Completed
• Phase: —
• Study type: Observational
• Enrollment: 280 (estimated)
• Sponsor: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) · NIH
• Sex: All
• Age: 1 Day – 1 Day
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

This study is designed to examine the effects of prenatal exposure to environmental contaminants on cognitive and behavioral development and physical growth in two groups of Inuit infants-one in Northern Quebec; the other in Greenland.

Detailed description

Due to prevailing weather patterns and ocean currents, certain environmental contaminants are transported to the Arctic region. The Inuit are among the most heavily exposed populations on earth due to the prevalence of these contaminants in traditional foods that comprise a large portion of their diet. The contaminants assessed in this study include polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), methylmercury, selenium, organochlorine pesticides, and lead. These contaminants are measured in umbilical cord blood samples obtained at birth, milk samples obtained from breast-feeding mothers and, in the case of mercury, hair samples obtained from the mothers. Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are also assessed in these samples to examine the degree to which these nutrients may protect against adverse effects attributable to these contaminants.

Conditions

• Mercury Poisoning
• Lead Poisoning

Timeline

• Start date: 1997-01-01
• Primary completion: 2011-08-01
• Completion: 2011-08-01
• First posted: 2001-04-03
• Last updated: 2015-04-14

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Canada