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The Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas (CHAMACOS) Study is the longest running longitudinal birth cohort study of pesticides and other environmental exposures among children in a farmworker community. CHAMACOS means “little children” in Mexican Spanish, which reflects the population we serve.
Starting in 1999, we enrolled pregnant women living in California's Salinas Valley, one of the most productive agricultural regions in the nation. We have followed these families for 19 years, measuring exposures to pesticides and other chemicals and assessing children’s growth, health, and development every 1-2 years. In 2010-2011, we expanded the study by enrolling additional 9-year-old children into the cohort. More than 600 children continue to participate in the study and will be followed until adulthood. We have recently secured funding to continue this work and are currently focusing on children's neurodevelopment and risk taking behaviors as participants transition into their late teens and early adulthood. The CHAMACOS Study has spearheaded almost 150 publications, shedding light on critical environmental exposures and health.
Study at a Glance: |
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Impact:
CHAMACOS is a unique study containing 20 years of data and nearly 300,000 biological samples for analysis of children's development and environmental exposures in a Latino farmworker community. CHAMACOS research has added to our knowledge of the impacts of pesticides on children’s brain development and respiratory health, methods to reduce pesticide exposures, and the interaction of stress and early life adversity on health in chemically exposed populations.
Additionally, CHAMACOS has provided information on the effects of numerous other chemicals, such as those found in furniture, plastics, and cosmetics, on multiple aspects of health, including fertility, birth outcomes, timing of puberty, obesity and metabolic syndrome, and epigenetic changes. CHAMACOS is a community based participatory research project that focuses on community engagement and bidirectional learning in all aspects of the research. To date, we have given more than a thousand presentations, and personally educated more than 30,000 stakeholders and community members.
We are currently assessing the feasibility of enrolling a third generation of CHAMACOS children - the children of the CHAMACOS "children" who are now young adults.
News:
- Inside Climate News- Roundup, the World’s Favorite Weed Killer, Linked to Liver, Metabolic Diseases in Kids
- New York Magazine- The Lost Generation: Trump's environmental policies are putting the health of American children at risk
- In partnership with the California Department of Education Migrant Education office, CHAMACOS went statewide to lead full day trainings on Worker Protection Standards for pesticide safety in the fields and how to reduce take-home exposures. Read the full report here
- The CHAMACOS Youth Council made a mural! We collaborated with Hijos del Sol to help youth communicate key aspects of health in their community. Click here to view a video made by the youth about the mural and health in Salinas, CA.
- New York Times- Pesticide Studies Won E.P.A.'s Trust, Until Trump's Team Scorned 'Secret Science'
- CHAMACOS' paper Early Childhood Adversity Potentiates the Adverse Association Between Prenatal Organophosphate Pesticide Exposure and Child IQ: the CHAMACOS Cohort was selected for the Children's Environmental Health Network's September 2016 Article of the Month. CEHN summaries discuss the potential policy implications of current children’s environmental health research
- CHAMACOS' paper In Utero and Childhood Polybrominated Diphenyl Ether Exposures and Body Mass at Age 7 Years: The CHAMACOS Study was selected by the Children’s Environmental Health Network (CEHN) as its July 2015 Article of the Month
- The Nation- Warning Signs: How Pesticides Harm the Young Brain
- The New York Times- A Watchful Eye on Farm Families’ Health