The Project is a prospective longitudinal study investigating the cognitive and behavioral development of children whose mothers have consumed significant amounts of Lake Ontario sportfish over a lifetime. The fish in Lake Ontario are contaminated with a wide range of contaminants and numerous agricultural pesticides, such as DDE. Converging evidence uncovered in the experimental animal laboratory and the correlational human study will help to determine which chemicals are causing developmental deficits in exposed children.
The oldest children in the human longitudinal study are now eight years of age. All have been tested repeatedly with a range of psychometric instruments beginning on the very day of their birth. These assessments have enabled the Center to acquire a massive amount of data on the cognitive and behavioral functioning of the children in the study. Exhaustive initial interviews with the mothers in the study, examination of their obstetric and gynecological records, and continual monitoring of maternal mood, stress level and the home environment of each child enable the investigators to test for a large number of potential confounds, such as demographics, labor and delivery complications, and other sources of toxic exposure. Finally, the Center has an impressive database of exposure data from chemical analysis of umbilical cord blood, placental tissue, breast-milk, and maternal hair containing levels of PCBs, hexachlorobenzine, lead, mercury, DDE, and Mirex. In conjunction with James Pagano of Oswego State's Environmental Research Center, as well as Dr. Tom Clarkson at the University of Rochester, the Center is continuing to add to this database.
Over the past decade, the Center has earned an international reputation as a leading research institute in the area of neurobehavioral teratology. The principal investigators have presented the results of their research all over the United States and at international conferences from Amsterdam to Montreal to Kyoto, Japan. The media worldwide have also shown great interest in the Center; NPR, CBC and BBC, as well as by television crews from Australia and Japan, have interviewed these researchers.
Since 1990, the work of the Center has been funded by awards from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), The Great Lakes Research Consortium, and the Great Lakes Protection Fund totaling nearly $2.5 million. In September 1999, the Center received an award of $2.2 million from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, which, along with the continued support of ATSDR, will ensure the continuation of this study for at least the next five years. Articles reporting the results of the work of this group are archived at Penfield Library.