The Mount Sinai Center for Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention encompasses five research projects which aim (1) to investigate exposures of inner city children to potential developmental toxicants – pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and lead; and (2) to identify, elucidate and prevent early developmental deficits that result from exposures to environmental toxicants. Project 1, a community-based prevention program, is being undertaken in East Harlem, New York City, in partnership with Boriken Health Center. The goal is to reduce exposures to pesticides and other developmental toxicants among expectant mothers, using integrated pest management in homes with a later community-wide program to follow. Project 2 is a prospective epidemiologic study of an ethnically diverse birth cohort of infants born at Mount Sinai. The aim of this project is to assess whether in utero exposures to pesticides and other toxicants are associated with developmental delays. In Projects 1 and 2, we are measuring indoor pesticide contaminants, maternal PCB and lead levels, and urinary pesticide metabolites. Project 3 is studying polymorphisms in the enzymes that activate and detoxify organophosphates and related pesticides in the mothers and infants enrolled in Project 2. Four polymorphisms in over 300 samples have been measured to date. Project 4, a retrospective study of African-Americans whose mothers were enrolled in the Collaborative Perinatal Project during the 1960s, will assess whether in utero exposures to PCBs are associated with disordered neuropsychological function in adolescent or adult life. Project 5 is investigating the mechanisms by which environmental toxicants affect neuroendocrine development.
Learning Objectives: N/A
Keywords: Pesticides, Urban Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.