Project Summary (1995-2000)

This study's primary objective is to evaluate the associations of in utero environmental exposures with newborn and infant health outcomes. The specific exposures of interest occur through maternal-placental transfer and include polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), pesticides (DDE), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and mercury (Hg). The relationship between these exposures and a variety of developmental outcomes including measures of infant size, infant behavior and neurologic function is being studied. The study performs two baseline evaluations (at birth and at one week of age) and one follow up evaluation (at 6-7 months of age) on a subsample of 475 mother-infant pairs who deliver at St. Luke's Hospital in New Bedford, Massachusetts and who live in one of four communities adjacent to the New Bedford Harbor Superfund site.