IN-health- Maternal-infant health related to environmental factors

Increasing concentration of contaminants in the environment is a serious problem for human populations in many countries around the world. The use of biomarkers is now an accepted measure of possibly exposure to contaminants in risk assessment; however information on background exposures and biomarker concentrations of all environmental chemicals in the general Portuguese population is very limited. The IN-health Project emerge from this information gap and therefore this application aims to determine reference ranges for several chemical compounds and biomarkers of chemical exposure in a very susceptible population (newborn children) using the umbilical cord blood and other tissues (e.g. placenta).

Although no major industries are found in the Algarve region, some hotspots of contamination in the marine and estuarine environments have been identified by this research group. Based on past and current studies, as an effect of the increase of anthropogenic influence on the environment, associated to the growth of population, tourist activities and consequent waste production, along with agricultural activities and abandoned mining areas. These hotspots are found in confined areas of low hydrodynamic conditions and in ecological sensitive environments. In the south coast of Portugal these hotspots of contamination have been identified near ports/harbours and marinas as well as in estuaries of the major rivers. There, the main contaminants identified are: metals and organic pollutants that can be found either individually or as complex mixtures. Although the levels of contaminants in these areas in both biotic and abiotic compartments have been identified, it is largely unknown the impact of these pollutants on the health of local human populations.

The IN-HEALTH project proposal constitutes an innovative approach to study the effects of contaminants in newborn children whose mothers live in areas with distinct environmental susceptibilities in the Algarve. Health impact evaluation will include the determination of different contaminants, known to produce toxic effects on humans, such as inorganic compounds (e.g. essential metals: Cu, Zn and non-essential metals: Ag, Cd, Hg, Pb) and organic pollutants such as Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), (Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), pesticides, Bisphenol A (BPA). On the other hand, due to the difficulty in establishing the effects of chemicals in a complex and variable environment, this project also aims to study biological markers or biomarkers, which are a sensitive and specific tool that can be employed to measure exposure to contaminants, or the effects at different levels of biological organization. The biomarkers that will be investigated include specific stress responses, namely:

metallothioneins (specific for Cd, Cu and Zn), delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (ALAD) (specific for Pb), mixed function oxigenase (MFO) system (specific for organic compounds), acetylcholinesterase (AChE) (specific for pesticides) and overall biochemical effects: antioxidant enzymes, lipid peroxidation (LPO) and DNA damage. A proteomic approach will also be used to establish the background proteomes of newborn children. The mapping of blood proteins or protein expression profiles may also constitute a foundation for the development of new biomarkers for contamination exposure in human populations. Proteins of interest will be identified using mass spectrometry. Transcriptomics will also be used to study gene expression of the identified proteins between different groups depending of their exposure levels.

The contaminants and biochemical data assessed in the newborn will be related to the background environment experienced by the mother. This will be done by the collaboration with the Faro District Hospital where these mothers have periodic medical evaluations to monitor the pregnancy evolution, a complete questionnaire will be proposed to investigate the general health status; data on the newborn; data on occupational and/or environmental sources of contaminant exposure; potential sources of recent environmental exposure; dietary history; smoking habits.

This project intends to congregate the collaboration of a multidisciplinary knowledge of an ecotoxicology and a medical team (obstetric and pediatrics) to better assess and integrate the outcome research.