Chemicals Health and Pregnancy Study

The Chemicals Health and Pregnancy (CHirP) study is looking for women who are less than 15 weeks pregnant to participate.

The CHirP study is addressing how certain environmental chemicals affect thyroid hormones during pregnancy. The chemicals being studied include flame retardants (PBDEs) and stain and water repellents (PFCs), which are common in homes and workplaces. Some of these chemicals leach out of household products and accumulate in human tissues.

This study will help to determine if the levels of PBDEs and PFCs found in the Vancouver region might be of concern for public health, and will teach us how to reduce exposures to these chemicals in the future.

We are recruiting women from the Vancouver area who are less than 15 weeks pregnant, and are planning to deliver at either BC Women's, St. Paul's hospital or at home.

It is difficult to find women this early in pregnancy, and we are finding that word of mouth has been incredible important. It would be a great help if you could pass this information on to any friends or colleagues who might be interested in participating, or have somewhere to display a CHirP poster or flyer. We will be recruiting until at least Dec 2007.

For more information, please visit www.cher.ubc.ca/chirp, or call Glenys at 604 827-5454.