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Days: 25 and 26 of November, 2025
Place: Donostia-San Sebastián

Preliminary programme: Link
NOTE: In parallel to this programme, meetings between researchers/research groups may be scheduled to assess potential collaborations. If you are interested, please send an e-mail to susana.gros@isglobal.org

Reserve these dates! We will wait for you!

Collaborators:

List of the 5 awards:

• Awarded researcher: Simona Porru
  Award: Awards for the 10 best papers presented by first-time attendees at the SEE Annual Meeting
  Title: Prenatal exposure to metals and working memory in children and adolescents in the INMA project (“Exposición prenatal a metales y memoria de trabajo en niños/as y adolescentes del proyecto INMA”)

• Awarded researcher: Sabrina Llop
  Award:  “Emilio Perea” award for the best senior papers at the Scientific Meeting of the Spanish Society of Epidemiology 2024
  Title: Prenatal Exposure to Inorganic Arsenic and Thyroid Hormones in Pregnancy and Adolescence (“Exposición prenatal a arsénico inorgánico y hormonas tiroideas en el embarazo y en la adolescencia”)

• Awarded researcher: Raquel Soler Blasco
  Award: XXX SEE award for the best articles in epidemiology 2024
  Title of the article: Genetic susceptibility to neurotoxicity related to prenatal inorganic arsenic exposure in young Spanish children

• Awarded researcher: Llúcia González Safont
  Award: Award for the best papers presented at the CIBERESP spontaneous round table at the XLII Annual Meeting of the Spanish Society of Epidemiology (SEE).
  Title: Pet ownership and mental health problems at age 7-8 years in the INMA cohort (“Presencia de mascotas y problemas de salud mental a los 7-8 años en la cohorte INMA”)

• Awarded researcher: Mònica Guxens
  Award: Award for the 10 best papers presented at the CIBER 2024 Congress
  Title: How the environment shapes children’s health and development from conception until early adulthood: 20 years of collaborative research the INMA Project

Congratulations to all the volunteers of the INMA Project !!!! and to all the award winners!!!!

The INMA Project was awarded 3 certificates in recognition of the support granted for its participation in the project entitled ‘Impact of the environment (exposome) on sexual and reproductive health in a national multicentre birth cohort’ which has a funding of 400,000 €. A great SUCCESS.

Many thanks to all the volunteers of the INMA Project, whose data make it possible for the research to continue!

Maintaining adequate vitamin D levels during pregnancy is crucial for both the mother and the developing baby. Insufficient vitamin D has been associated with pregnancy complications, as well as potential long-term impacts on a child’s health, affecting bone density, dental health, and cognitive development. Pregnant women can boost their vitamin D levels through sunlight exposure or by taking supplements.

Previous studies have suggested that air pollutants, such as PM_2.5, PM₁₀, or NO₂, could interfere with vitamin D production by blocking ultraviolet B (UVB) rays from reaching the skin or altering the body’s ability to metabolize the vitamin. While these mechanisms are suspected, it is still unclear at what level air pollution levels may significantly impact vitamin D levels in pregnant women.

Study details and findings

To explore this potential link, researchers gathered data from 15,935 pregnant women participating in five large cohort studies: the Amsterdam Born Children and their Development (ABCD) and Generation R studies based in the Netherlands, the Born in Bradford study based in England, the Project Viva study from the United States, and the INfancia y Medio Ambiente (INMA) study based in Spain. The study included women from four INMA regions: Asturias, Gipuzkoa, Sabadell, and Valencia.

Air pollution exposure was measured at the participants’ home addresses, with the main analyses focusing on nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) and PM_2.5. Vitamin D levels were analyzed from blood samples taken during early or mid-pregnancy. The researchers also considered various factors that could affect vitamin D levels, such as maternal age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status.

The study revealed that higher exposure to PM_2.5 was linked to a greater likelihood of suboptimal vitamin D levels in pregnant women. This relationship was particularly strong in the cohorts from Bradford in England and Sabadell in Spain. Importantly, these findings emerged even at levels of air pollution much lower than those seen in previous studies from different regions, such as China.

The researchers noted differences in results between the cohorts and proposed that this could be due to variations in how air pollution was measured and the differences in composition of particulate matter in different regions. They also pointed out that previous studies had found links between larger particulate matter (PM₁₀) and vitamin D levels, but this study did not replicate those findings.

Future research and conclusion

The authors emphasized the need for further research to understand other factors that could influence the link between air pollution and vitamin D, such as time spent outdoors, skin pigmentation and supplement use. They also acknowledged a limitation in their study: while pollution exposure at home was measured, the study did not account for time women may have spent in other environments.

This study found a significant association between exposure to PM_2.5 and lower vitamin D levels in pregnant women. Given that vitamin D plays an essential role in the healthy development of children, the authors highlight the importance of reducing air pollution exposure as a potential public health priority for pregnant women.

Reference: Binter AC, Ghassabian A, Zou R, El Marroun H, Lertxundi A, Switkowski KM, Estarlich M, Rodríguez-Dehli AC, Esplugues A, Vrijkotte T, Sunyer J, Santa-Marina L, Fernández-Somoano A, Polanska K, McEachan RRC, Oken E, Tiemeier H, Guxens M. Associations of gestational exposure to air pollution with maternal vitamin D levels: a meta-analysis. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2024 Jun 13:dgae395. doi: 10.1210/clinem/dgae395. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38870315.

Link to the scientific article: https://doi.org/10.1210/clinem/dgae395

And nothing would be possible without the support of Felix Vinent and the field workers, Lidia Naharro and Helena Pelegrí!

INMA Menorca’s volunteers are already 27 years old!!! Our most sincere thanks to the more than 250 volunteers of this cohort who continue to collaborate with us.