The Hokkaido Birth Cohort Study on Environment and Children’s Health: cohort profile—updated 2017

Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine, May 2017

The Hokkaido Study on Environment and Children’s Health is an ongoing study consisting of two birth cohorts of different population sizes: the Sapporo cohort and the Hokkaido cohort. Our primary study goals are (1) to examine the effects of low-level environmental chemical exposures on birth outcomes, including birth defects and growth retardation; (2) to follow the development of allergies, infectious diseases, and neurobehavioral developmental disorders and perform a longitudinal observation of child development; (3) to identify high-risk groups based on genetic susceptibility to environmental chemicals; and (4) to identify the additive effects of various chemicals, including tobacco smoking. The purpose of this report is to update the progress of the Hokkaido Study, to summarize the recent results, and to suggest future directions. In particular, this report provides the basic characteristics of the cohort populations, discusses the population remaining in the cohorts and those who were lost to follow-up at birth, and introduces the newly added follow-up studies and case-cohort study design. In the Sapporo cohort of 514 enrolled pregnant women, various specimens, including maternal and cord blood, maternal hair, and breast milk, were collected for the assessment of exposures to dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls, organochlorine pesticides, perfluoroalkyl substances, phthalates, bisphenol A, and methylmercury. As follow-ups, face-to-face neurobehavioral developmental tests were conducted at several different ages. In the Hokkaido cohort of 20,926 enrolled pregnant women, the prevalence of complicated pregnancies and birth outcomes, such as miscarriage, stillbirth, low birth weight, preterm birth, and small for gestational age were examined. The levels of exposure to environmental chemicals were relatively low in these study populations compared to those reported previously. We also studied environmental chemical exposure in association with health outcomes, including birth size, neonatal hormone levels, neurobehavioral development, asthma, allergies, and infectious diseases. In addition, genetic and epigenetic analyses were conducted. The results of this study demonstrate the effects of environmental chemical exposures on genetically susceptible populations and on DNA methylation. Further study and continuous follow-up are necessary to elucidate the combined effects of chemical exposure on health outcomes.

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The Hokkaido Birth Cohort Study on Environment and Children’s Health: cohort profile—updated 2017

Kishi et al. Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine The Hokkaido Birth Cohort Study on Environment and Children's Health: cohort profile-updated 2017 Reiko Kishi 0 3 Atsuko Araki 0 3 Machiko Minatoya 0 3 Tomoyuki Hanaoka 0 3 Chihiro Miyashita 0 3 Sachiko Itoh 0 3 Sumitaka Kobayashi 0 3 Yu Ait Bamai 0 3 Keiko Yamazaki 0 3 Ryu Miura 0 3 Naomi Tamura 0 2 3 Kumiko Ito 0 1 3 Houman Goudarzi 0 3 4 the members of The Hokkaido Study on Environment 3 Children's Health 3 0 Hokkaido University Center for Environmental and Health Sciences , Kita 12, Nishi 7, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0812 , Japan 1 Department of Public Health, Graduate School of Medicine, Hokkaido University , Sapporo , Japan 2 Graduate School of Health Sciences, Hokkaido University , Sapporo , Japan 3 The Members of The Hokkaido Study on Environment and Children's Health S. Sasaki, T. Ikeno, E. Okada , S. Nishihara, R. M. Ketema, T. Kita, I. Kashino, T. Baba, T. S. Braimoh, S. Minakami, K. Cho, N. Shinohara, K. Moriya, T. Mitsui, T. Saito, S. Suyama, T. Nomura, S. Konno, H. Matsuura , M. Ishizuka (Hokkaido University, Sapporo), T. Endo, T. Baba (Sapporo Medical University , Sapporo), F. Sata (Chuo University, Tokyo), K. Sengoku, Y. Saijo, E. Yoshioka, T. Miyamoto (Asahikawa Medical University, Asahikawa), M. Yuasa (Juntendo University , Tokyo), J. Kajiwara , T. Hori (Fukuoka Prefectural Institute of Health and Environmental Sciences , Fukuoka), Y. Chisaki, T. Matsumura, F. Mizutani, J. Yamamoto, Y. Onoda (IDEA Consultants , Inc., Shizuoka), T. Kawai, T. Tsuboi (Japan Industrial Safety and Health Association) 4 Department of Respiratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Graduate School of Medicine, Hokkaido University , Sapporo , Japan The Hokkaido Study on Environment and Children's Health is an ongoing study consisting of two birth cohorts of different population sizes: the Sapporo cohort and the Hokkaido cohort. Our primary study goals are (1) to examine the effects of low-level environmental chemical exposures on birth outcomes, including birth defects and growth retardation; (2) to follow the development of allergies, infectious diseases, and neurobehavioral developmental disorders and perform a longitudinal observation of child development; (3) to identify high-risk groups based on genetic susceptibility to environmental chemicals; and (4) to identify the additive effects of various chemicals, including tobacco smoking. The purpose of this report is to update the progress of the Hokkaido Study, to summarize the recent results, and to suggest future directions. In particular, this report provides the basic characteristics of the cohort populations, discusses the population remaining in the cohorts and those who were lost to follow-up at birth, and introduces the newly added follow-up studies and case-cohort study design. In the Sapporo cohort of 514 enrolled pregnant women, various specimens, including maternal and cord blood, maternal hair, and breast milk, were collected for the assessment of exposures to dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls, organochlorine pesticides, perfluoroalkyl substances, phthalates, bisphenol A, and methylmercury. As follow-ups, face-to-face neurobehavioral developmental tests were conducted at several different ages. In the Hokkaido cohort of 20,926 enrolled pregnant women, the prevalence of complicated pregnancies and birth outcomes, such as miscarriage, stillbirth, low birth weight, preterm birth, and small for gestational age were examined. The levels of exposure to environmental chemicals were relatively low in these study populations compared to those reported previously. We also studied environmental chemical exposure in association with health outcomes, including birth size, neonatal hormone levels, neurobehavioral development, asthma, allergies, and infectious diseases. In addition, genetic and epigenetic analyses were conducted. The results of this study demonstrate the effects of environmental chemical exposures on genetically susceptible populations and on DNA methylation. Further study and continuous follow-up are necessary to elucidate the combined effects of chemical exposure on health outcomes. Birth cohort study; Environmental chemicals; Exposure measurement; Pregnancy outcomes; Birth size; Thyroid; reproductive; and steroid hormones; Neurobehavioral development; Allergies and infectious diseases; Genetic susceptibility; Epigenetics - Background In 1997, Colborn et al. warned of the dangers of environmental chemicals as endocrine disruptors, which could lead to impaired reproductive capacity [1]. Since that warning, a myriad of animal and epidemiological studies have evaluated the adverse health effects of these endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) [2–4]. Although the use of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), perfluorooctanoic sulfonate (PFOS), and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is regulated, these chemicals are still d (...truncated)


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Reiko Kishi, Atsuko Araki, Machiko Minatoya, Tomoyuki Hanaoka, Chihiro Miyashita, Sachiko Itoh, Sumitaka Kobayashi, Yu Ait Bamai, Keiko Yamazaki, Ryu Miura, Naomi Tamura, Kumiko Ito, Houman Goudarzi, the members of The Hokkaido Study on Environment and Children’s Health. The Hokkaido Birth Cohort Study on Environment and Children’s Health: cohort profile—updated 2017, Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine, 2017, pp. 46, Volume 22, Issue 1, DOI: 10.1186/s12199-017-0654-3