The first eye-tracker study on children’s cognitive development has been completed

185 families have participated in our eye-tracking studies! Now we continue with the next stage of the project, the analysis of the data obtained in the two tests of cognitive development at 6 months.

We have explored two skills that reflect the state of babies’ cognitive development; visual recognition memory and object permanence perception.

In the study of visual recognition memory, we first present a pair of identical stimuli (we use faces or geometric drawings) and, after a few seconds, we present a change in one of the images. This task allows us to extract basic individual measures of eye scanning, such as average looking time or speed of changes, and on the other hand, it allows us to calculate the percentage of time spent looking at the new stimulus, which reflects the extent to which infants have memorized the first […]

The mask, has come to stay?

Air pollution is an invisible enemy, but the cause of 1 in 5 deaths worldwide (according to a report published in 2018 by Environmental Research). However, not all exposures, harmful particles, and risks are the same. The most harmful and dangerous is PM2.5, which are particles so small (less than 2.5 microns) that they can penetrate most of the body’s tissues.

Depending on the area of ​​the world, there is a greater or lesser concentration of these. For example, Hotan, in China, leads the list, according to the air quality ranking prepared by IQAir. If we focus on Europe, this study put the Polish city, Orzesze, in the lead, followed by Sarajevo, Valjevo in Serbia, and other cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We must move to position number 15 to find a Spanish City, Las Palmas de Gran […]

New publication on tobacco waste in children

The results of a study conducted by the University of San Diego and the University of Cincinnati in the United States on the presence of nicotine residues in the hands of boys and girls were published on February 7. The article, published in the journal JAMA Network Open (1), shows that both children living in exposed and non-smoking environments have nicotine residues on their hands.

The so-called “thirdhand smoke” or “tobacco dust” is the chemical residue that adheres to surfaces as a result of smoking tobacco; be it furniture, walls, clothes, etc. People are exposed to second-hand smoke by touching contaminated surfaces if they have not been properly cleaned.

The study, conducted in 2020 and 2021, looked at nicotine levels in the hands of 504 children under the age of 12 through a cotton swab by the fingers […]

Introducing BiSC at the INMA 2021 Conference

On November 23 and 24, the 17th Scientific Conference of the INMA Project was held in San Sebastian. INMA (Childhood and Environment) is a research project similar to BiSC that began in 2004 collecting data from different cohorts in Spain (Sabadell, Valencia, Gipuzkoa, Ribera d’Ebre, Granada, Menorca, and Asturias). The study aims to describe and evaluate the impact of exposure during pregnancy and the postnatal period of different environmental pollutants on the growth, health, and development of children.  

As we do in the BiSC project, follow-up was done during the gestation of the volunteers who wanted to sign up for the study and after the birth of their babies. Some of these children are now teenagers and still participate by providing data to INMA (for more information, visit their website: (https://www.proyectoinma.org/ca/).

Every year there […]

BiSC in the media!

It has already been several times that BiSC has appeared in the media (radio, press, and television), both nationally and internationally, and that we are still in the recruitment phase and we have not yet been able to start exploiting results!

It is very important for BiSC and for all scientific projects, to promote and disseminate all new knowledge, to allow the scientific world and the general population to know the new research, and to appreciate, compare, question, and interpret the results. The media are essential for the transmission of scientific knowledge to the public and for shaping a scientific culture in society.

A few days ago, we received a visit from a photographer from a well-known international magazine (we can’t name it until the […]

The BiSC project appears in the first program of the documentary series ‘Natural’!

The BiSC project was invited to participate in the first program of the documentary series ‘Natural’ that is broadcast weekly on “La Sexta”.

The program used the decline in the number of sparrows in cities as a leitmotif of a program that highlighted the negative effects of air pollution, noise, electromagnetic radiation and lack of green space (including others) in the health of this species. Several of these factors are also being studied in the BiSC project to assess how they affect the neurodevelopment of the fetus and children!

In fact, BiSC was one of the studies used to exemplify how the effects of exposure to air pollution on people’s health are studied (link to the news).

The journalists accompanied us during a visit to the house of a volunteer, Mònica Selva. One of the BiSC technicians, […]

Information for Pregnant and Families – Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2)

Jordi Sunyer, principal investigator of the BiSC project, shared some thoughts and / or recommendations addressed to the entire population:

1. There is reason to be optimistic. Every day we have new data and evidence of how to overcome it.

2. Create a window for information (30 ‘in the morning and 30’ in the rest) and avoid opinions and speculation. The rest of the time, devote yourself to activities that bring you pleasure and that you can never do.

3. Share distress and symptoms with friends.

4. Maintain a daily routine and, if you can, do […]