Breast milk, Environment, Early-life, and Development (BEED) Study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Breast milk, Environment, Early-life, and Development (BEED) Study
IRAS ID
328800
Contact name
Mireille B Toledano
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Imperial College London
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
13/NW/0202, Previous study: IBMS REC reference; 214158, Previous study: IBMS IRAS reference
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 2 months, 29 days
Research summary
The Incinerators BioMonitoring study (IBMS) began in 2013 as part of a funded PhD project; this study collected human milk samples and questionnaire data from primiparous women with the aim of building detailed exposure profiles for people living near municipal waste incinerators (MWIs) in the UK.
So far, the human milk samples have been analysed for potential biomarkers of exposure to MWI emissions: (i) polychlorinated dibenzo-dioxins/furans (PCDD/Fs), (ii) polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), (iii) heavy metals and (iv) metabolites, and initial analyses involve relating these to proxies for exposure to MWI emissions.
This proposed new research study (BEED) will utilise existing information from the IBMS to further the understanding of how early-life exposure to biomarkers (through possible exposure from the mother during pregnancy and breastfeeding) may be associated with health and development in childhood.We plan to ask IBMS participants to take part in this follow-up study where they will (i) complete a new questionnaire that includes validated questions on their children’s symptoms of asthma, eczema, rhinitis, ADHD and behavioural difficulties and (ii) provide a copy of their child's Early Stage Foundation Stage Profile, which is completed by their child’s early-learning provider the June after the child turned five as well. Participant's that did not complete the questions about their first pregnancy and birth as part of IBMS will be asked these as well in the questionnaire.
Additionally, we will be asking participants to provide consent for us to link their tissue samples and questionnaire data to national data sets including those held by NHS England and the Office for National Statistics to further strengthen the analyses and build detailed exposure profiles.
REC name
West Midlands - Edgbaston Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/WM/0194
Date of REC Opinion
3 Oct 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion