Environmental Epidemiology

Introduction   |   Current Reseach   |   Realisations

An initial funded project, whose principal researcher is Claire Infante-Rivard (CIR), involves analyzing three aspects of exposure measurement using data from previous studies.

• We will compare pregnant women’s occupational exposure to low frequency electromagnetic fields as measured by an expert to that measured by an informed person who is not an expert. For this, we will use a matrix that we have already published, and data from a study on brain cancer in children for whom the basic data have already been collected. The aim will be to determine whether good sensitivity can be achieved by a non-expert, a person who is easier to find and less expensive.
  
• The effect of drinking water contaminants on fetal growth is studied by CIR. Exposure was measured by a complex set of data collected by applying good epidemiological practices. In parallel, a pharmacokinetic model for trihalomethanes absorption during pregnancy was developed by our colleagues in the Drinking Water Contaminants Unit. We will compare the exposure-fetal growth relationship as analyzed with epidemiological data, which are more commonly available, with this same relationship analyzed using a physiological model. The increased precision achieved with the physiological model will be studied.
  
• Finally, air quality measurement in houses, for vast epidemiological studies involving children, is very complex. Using a previous study on asthma in children (CIR), we will attempt to see how a questionnaire, a simple non-invasive observation visit of the premises, and more costly and invasive environmental measurements compare. The aim is to determine the sensitivity of the simplest method.
  

These projects are typical of the objective of the theme, namely to develop and analyze valid and applicable methods for epidemiological studies. They are also typical in that they involve collaboration with industrial hygiene and toxicology specialists.