BiSC, a new birth cohort in Barcelona

The project BiSC began at the end of 2018 and there are now more than 190 pregnant women included.

The main objective of the BiSC project is to create a new birth cohort in Barcelona and study how Barcelona’s air pollution affects the development of the baby during pregnancy, among others. The latest published studies showed that in 2010, the city has exceeded the maximum levels of nitrogen dioxide pollution established by the European directive; 98% of Barcelona residents are exposed to higher fine particulate levels than those recommended by the World Health Organization and it is estimated that 3,500 premature deaths are linked to pollution every year in Barcelona.

Barcelona from the air (Photography obtained from “El País”)

As we have seen in previous news, the exposure to air pollution of the participant is evaluated exhaustively in many ways, through personal monitoring, residential monitoring and collection of biological samples.

The project started some months ago and we just wanted to thank the participants of the study and their families for their involvement and motivation to make possible this study!

Thank you!

The text was written by Maria Torres, a PhD student, responsible for the questionnaires applied in BiSC, among other tasks.