THE results of a study investigating the degree to which unborn babies are exposed to environmental contaminants will be made public early next year.

Aimed to determine whether chemical levels on the island fall within the range found in other countries, the study was conducted by a team of scientists from the Bermuda Biological Station for Research (BBSR) and the Atlantis Mobile Laboratory ? a global programme which assesses threats to humans and environmental health in coastal areas.

Staff at the maternity and laboratory units at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, local doctors and Health Department staff collected the information.

"The study is the first of its kind to use so many different institutions of Bermuda," said BBSR adjunct scientist and project leader Philippe Rouja.

"It paints an amazing picture of what we can do in Bermuda and it's the way forward to creating relationships with outside institutions. To be able to team up with people, with institutions which are just as interested in our environment as we are.

"In my mind, a lot more of this kind of research can be done in Bermuda. It's proof that we can get international resources to work in partnership with us."

The two-month study was completed at the beginning of this month with participation on a voluntary basis.

"The aim of this study is to assess exposure of developing babies to a number of common environmental pollutants that everyone is exposed to," a BBSR spokesperson explained.

"These can be in the air, the water, and in many foods and include industrial chemicals, agrochemicals, and some metals such as mercury. These may be passed on to the baby in the womb via the placenta and umbilical cord from food or water taken by the mother."

Because most of these chemicals were found widely in the environment, most babies would have some exposure to them, the spokesperson added. Problems would arise only if the levels found proved higher than the range deemed acceptable by World Health Organisation guidelines.

As part of the process, mothers were asked to complete questionnaires on their diet and lifestyle to help scientists identify potential routes of exposure to chemicals. At birth, nursing staff at KEMH took a small piece of placenta and some blood from the umbilical cord just before they were routinely thrown away.

The data should prove especially useful to those mothers found with high levels of pollutants and as a means of determining the quality of Bermuda's environment, Dr. Rouja said, praising KEMH and the maternity department in particular, for their efforts.

"It should get us started thinking about how we're affected by the environment and how we're going to change the way we act towards the environment. It should help us to prioritise what we do in the future in terms of control of pollutants and things like that."