Absorption of environmental pollutants during pregnancy

The national biomonitoring programme set up by Public Health France has a perinatal component, the aim being to estimate pregnant women’s exposure to certain pollutants that are present in the environment (bisphenol A, phtalates, pesticides, etc.).

The present study, conducted among a subsample of 4,145 mothers belonging to the Elfe cohort, has yielded the first nationally reliable results about pregnant women’s absorption of various environmental pollutants.

Based on measurements of biological samples collected in maternity units (cord blood, mother’s blood, urine, hair), the study found that the majority of the pollutants were present in nearly all the pregnant women. Food was the main source of exposure, even though there were other sources, notably the air indoors and outdoors.

Exposure of mothers and their newborns to environmental pollutants - Presentation by Clémentine Dereumeaux, research officer at Santé publique France [FR]

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