This project is involved with two dimensions of ALSPAC: (a) To enrich the information concerning the maternal environment during pregnancy, and (b) To follow up the ALSPAC participants with questionnaires and a series of hands-on examinations.

(a)In addition to the data already available on the maternal environment, this project will assess the mother’s exposure to the endocrine disruptor bisphenol A; it will enable identification of exposures to infections of the mother (using maternal blood), and the fetus (using cord blood), and allow completion of the obstetric database so that as complete a set as possible of exposures to medications such as pethidine, and interventions such as induction or acceleration of labour, and epidural anaesthesia, can be considered.

(b) The follow up will involve a set of questionnaires to the parents and the index participant at age 27, when detailed questions on the environment over time will be asked, and a clinic slot in 2020 will be used to test hearing, vision, lung function, anthropometry, allergies and various cognitive measures assessing features such as memory, attention span and IQ, as well as collect a number of biological samples.

The project will aim to identify whether the environmental measures are associated with obesity, respiratory and cognitive abilities over time, and in particular what the early childhood indicators of beneficial outcome might be.