The environmental visit at BiSC!

The global pandemic caused by the coronavirus has changed our lives as we know it. We have had to adapt to all aspects of our daily lives and live with the new normal. The BiSC project has not been an exception to this change and we have designed a system to continue the environmental week of the study, adapting to the new current situation.

In order to continue doing the environmental part of the project, the field techniques carry out thorough disinfection of the material and equipment for the preparation of the kits, always using a mask, gloves and disinfecting the work surfaces.

All devices are disinfected twice, once collected from the homes of the participants and before being delivered to new volunteers. In addition, the fabric material we use is washed at 60º after each use.

The kit we give to the volunteers contains:

• A series of devices: consisting of a “smartphone” that allows us to know the usual routes during pregnancy, a clock (actigraph) that measures physical activity and sleep quality, a sensor (USB 2+ ) which records temperature and relative humidity and small tubes that measure exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2).
• A document with installation/uninstallation instructions and a small environmental questionnaire.
• A Tupperware and instructions for collecting urine samples.

(In the case of third-quarter environmental visits, they include instructions and material for collecting a nail sample).

The field technicians contact the volunteers to quote them and give them the material. Once mentioned, they receive a video that you can find at the end of the new, explaining how to install the equipment, so that it is even easier and faster for them.

Currently, the involvement of our volunteers and the results are being very favorable.

Thank you so much for continuing to trust us!

The text has been written by the environmental team of fieldworkers, Eduard Roso, Berta Miralles, Beatriz Jurado and Susana Ramon.