Dentistry - Federal University of Rio de Janeiro

The study conducted by Prof. Dr. Andréa Fonseca Gonçalves in partnership with PIPA assesses the influence of nutritional conditions and maternal and child environmental pollutants exposure on the development of dental development defects during the first 1,000 days of a child’s life.
This researcher works in the Dentistry field, specifically in the field of Pediatric Dentistry. His line of research consists of Dentistry for Infants and Children in Early Childhood, dealing mainly with the following topics: health promotion, quality of life, health epidemiology and cardiology. Thus, this line of research aims to observe the facts that contribute to the oral health of babies and children in early childhood, define appropriate models and systems for the prevention of oral diseases in this population, and develop mechanisms for intervention in the evolution of such diseases, to provide a better quality of life for those affected and their families.

Physiotherapy - Federal University of Rio de Janeiro

The object of the GENEP study carried out in partnership with the PIPA project is the assessment of the motor development and muscle tone of children monitored by the cohort. Under the leadership of Prof. Halina Cidrini Ferreira, this project intends to verify if development is adequately taking place and correlate the findings with the data referring to the dosed environmental pollutants. The employed instruments at first will comprise the Alberta Infant Motor Scale, the modified Ashworth scale and the GMA tool (General Movements Assessment).

Research Program for the SUS - PPSUS

Under the coordination of Prof. Dr. Denise Pires de Carvalho, , the project “Effects of Environmental Pollutants on Maternal and Child Health” aims to highlight the short and long-term risks of exposure to environmental contaminants with proven endocrine disrupting potential in a population of children born at the UFRJ Maternity School. The project is based on the results obtained by the PIPA Project, whose strategy is to obtain biological samples from the approximately 2000 births that take place at the Maternity School per year.

Part of the collected biological samples will be used to study clinical and laboratory parameters associated with predisposition to chronic diseases, such as cardiometabolic diseases, as well as possible changes in the regulation of neuroendocrine axes. Thus, the project will contribute to the understanding of the consequences of environmental pollutant exposure to maternal and child health.

Biology Institute - UERJ (IBRAG)

Professors Egberto Moura and Patrícia Lisboa develop their research projects at the Institute of Biology’s Laboratory of Endocrine Physiology (LFE), whose main research focus comprises diseases associated with development (DOHaD Concept). Researchers investigate nutritional and environmental factors that, during the perinatal period, increase the risk of obesity and endocrine-metabolic disorders. The LFE evaluates hormonal and neuroendocrine parameters employing several experimental models through biochemical, morphological, and molecular analyses. The role of the UERJ team in the PIPA project is to perform hormonal analyses on plasma and breast milk samples.

Carlos Chagas Institute of Biophysics

The research group led by Professor Denise Pires de Carvalho develops research projects at the Doris Rosenthal Endocrine Physiology Laboratory belonging to the Carlos Chagas Filho Institute of Biophysics at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. The focus of those studies is the Physiology and Pathophysiology of the thyroid gland. In addition, the group studies the effects of environmental contaminants, endocrine disruptors, which may cause thyroid dysfunction and alter metabolisms that can cause overweight, obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Morphological, hormonal, and biochemical thyroid function parameters and cardiometabolic risk factors are evaluated in different experimental models, including murine andzebrafish models and in humans. This research is carried out in association with research groups from the ICB, the Faculty of Medicine and the campusDuque de Caxias UFRJ and campus UFF.

Within the PIPA project, the group will evaluate maternal and umbilical cord blood, urine and breast milk samples. The aim is to study the .thyroid function status and cardiometabolic risk factors in mothers and children born at Maternity School – UFRJ for a period of 2 years, and how hormone levels and factors correlate with environmental contaminant levels analyzed in the studied biological samples.

Center for the Study of Occupational Health and Human Ecology (CESTEH)

The Toxicology Laboratory at the Center for Studies on Workers’ Health and Human Ecology (CESTEH), ENSP/FIOCRUZ, participates in the PIPA Project through a research line of pesticide residue evaluations under the coordination of Dr. Ana Cristina Simões Rosa, performing laboratory analyses on blood, urine, and breast milk, to identify pyrethroid and organochlorine pesticides, as well as polychlorinated biphenyls, in mother and baby samples. Pesticides can be ingested through contaminated water or food and many display significant potential to cause adverse human health effects, such as endocrine, neurological and hepatic system alterations, and even cancer, among other effects.

Study, Research and Intervention in Development and Health Laboratory (LEPIDS), Institute of Psychology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro

Under the coordination of Dr Ana Cristina Barros da Cunha and in collaboration with LEPIDS, the Study, Research and Intervention in Development and Health Laboratory was founded 10 years ago at the UFRJ Maternity School (ME-UFRJ) and is associated to the Division of Studies and the ME-UFRJ Psychology Service. The research project of the Psychology team comprises psychologists trained by UFRJ and students from the UFRJ Undergraduate Psychology Course to study the development of children participating in the PIPA Project cohort. Based on the developmental assessment of these children, this team seeks to investigate socio-affective, cognitive, motor, adaptive and communicative development indicators to analyze associations between environmental pollutants and child development outcomes considering psychosocial variables and maternal mental health through instruments such as the Brazilian version of the Screening Test of the Battelle Inventory (Battelle Developmental Inventory, 2nd Edition), the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 and a Protocol for Investigating Psychosocial Variables in Families. Thus, we seek to collaborate both in the development and achievement of PIPA’s objectives, as well as regarding scientific production in the field of Early Childhood Developmental Psychology.

Speech Therapy UFRJ

The research project “Study of the effects of exposure to environmental pollutants on children’s hearing health”, coordinated by Professor Dr Maria Isabel Kós Pinheiro de Andrade, in collaboration with PIPA, aims to investigate the individual and combined influence of exposure to environmental pollutants during the prenatal, birth and early childhood periods on auditory system development.

For methodological purposes, data related to neonatal hearing screening will be collected and additional hearing tests will be performed throughout the follow-up to assess the functionality and development of the peripheral and central auditory system. These data will be studied alongside the exposure information obtained through the analyzed PIPA project biological samples.

Bearing in mind that hearing is fundamental for speech development and language and that early intervention is essential in the rehabilitation process, this research project seeks to contribute to the understanding of possible etiological processes of hearing disorders associated to environmental pollutant exposure.

Institute of Collective Health Studies of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (IESC/UFRJ)

Logo do Iesc

The study “Longitudinal Exposure, Apgar Score and Effects on Physical Development in a Cohort of Children Exposed to Mercury in the Urban Area of Rio de Janeiro”, coordinated by Prof. Dr. Volney de Magalhães Câmara, Full Professor at the Institute of Collective Health Studies of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (IESC/UFRJ). Volney de Magalhães Câmara, Full Professor at the Institute of Collective Health Studies of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (IESC/UFRJ), and carried out in partnership with PIPA, is an unprecedented study that aims to evaluate longitudinal exposure to mercury from pregnancy to 4 years of age in children living in an urban area of the city of Rio de Janeiro. It will also evaluate Apgar scores and possible changes in children’s physical, neurological and cognitive development as a result of exposure to this environmental pollutant.

Institute of Chemistry - State University of Rio de Janeiro

Instituto de Química da UErj

The project “Evaluation of the Environmental Impacts of Environmental Pollutants on the Health of our Babies”, led by the Micro- and Nanoplastics Center of UERJ under the coordination of Prof. Dr. Monica Marques Calderari, aims to evaluate the effects of exposure to micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) and their additives, especially PFAs, on pregnant women and babies. The focus is on developing methods to isolate and characterize these contaminants in biological samples, quantify their presence, correlate their composition with possible sources of exposure, and understand the potential impact on infant health. The research also examines how exposure to MNPs and PFAs interacts with the socioeconomic and cultural environment, contributing to the formulation of more effective and sustainable public policies in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.