IJOMEH 2009;22(4) 383 ORIGINAL PAPERS International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health 2009;22(4):383 – 391 DOI 10.2478/v10001-009-0037-0 POLISH MOTHER AND CHILD COHORT STUDY — DEFINING THE PROBLEM, THE AIM OF THE STUDY AND METHODOLOGICAL ASSUMPTIONS KINGA POLAŃSKA 1 , WOJCIECH HANKE 1,2 , JOLANTA GROMADZIŃSKA 3 , DANUTA LIGOCKA 4 , EWA GULCZYŃSKA 5 , WOJCIECH SOBALA 1 , and WOJCIECH WĄSOWICZ 3 1 Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine, Łódź, Poland Department of Environmental Epidemiology 2 Medical University, Łódź, Poland Department of Informatics and Medical Statistics 3 Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine, Łódź, Poland Department of Toxicology and Carcinogenesis 4 Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine, Łódź, Poland Department of Chemical Hazards 5 Polish Mother’s Memorial Hospital — Research Institute Department of Neonatology Abstract Objectives: Exposures during prenatal period have implications for pregnancy outcome as well as for children’s health, morbidity and mortality. Prospective cohort study design allows for the identiication of exposures that may inluence preg- nancy outcome and children’s health, veriication of such exposures by biomarker measurements and notiication of any changes in exposure level. Materials and methods: Polish Mother and Child Cohort Study (REPRO_PL) is multicenter prospective cohort study conducted in 8 different regions of Poland. The inal cohort is intended to comprise 1300 mother- child pairs to be recruited within 4-year period (2007–2011). The recruitment and all scheduled visits are conducted in maternity units or clinics in the districts included in the study. The women are followed-up 3 times in pregnancy (once in each trimester) and after delivery for the notiication of pregnancy outcome. During each visit, detailed questionnaire and biological samples are collected including saliva, urine, hair, maternal blood and cord blood. About 6 weeks postpartum, breast milk from part of the women is collected. The study concentrates on the identiication and evaluation of the effects of prenatal environmental exposure on pregnancy outcome and children’s health. Speciic research hypotheses refer to the role of heavy metals, exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) in the aetiology of small-for-gestational-age (SGA) and preterm delivery (PD). The role of oxidative stress putative mecha- nism and pregnant women nutritional status will be investigated. Based on questionnaire data, the impact of occupational exposures and stressful situations will be evaluated. Results: The results of the study will become available within the next few years and will help to determine levels of child prenatal exposure in several areas of Poland and its impact on course and outcome of pregnancy. Key words: Birth cohort, Pregnancy, Prenatal exposure, Biological sample This study was performed under the project “Polish cohort of pregnant women” supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Poland, from grant no. PBZ-MEiN-/8/2//2006; contract no. K140/P01/2007/1.3.1.1. Received: September 7, 2009. Accepted: October 13, 2009. Address reprint request to K. Polańska, Department of Environmental Epidemiology, Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine, św. Teresy 8, 91-348 Łódź, Poland (e-mail: kinga@imp.lodz.pl).