# Maintaining and enriching the Infants Environmental Health Study (ISA)

> **NIH NIH R24** · NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY RALEIGH · 2020 · $292,972

## Abstract

Understanding the potential health effects of pesticides is difficult due to the episodic nature of 
exposure and the lack of individual’s knowledge regarding their personal exposure.  The ISA Cohort 
study in Costa Rica is a community-based cohort of 350 mothers and their now 5-7 year old children 
living in Matina County, Costa Rica, a banana growing region for the country.  These individuals 
are exposed to a variety of different chemicals as used in agriculture, mainly banana production, 
vector control, and pasture, including mancozeb, chlorpyrifos, pyrimethanil, thiabendazole, 
cypermethrin, and 2,4-D.  Exposure to these and other pesticides, as well as manganese (a component 
of mancozeb), has been measured through biological and environmental monitoring of the cohort for 
the past six years.  To date, investigators have been funded to assess growth and neurobehavioral 
outcomes associated with pre- and post-natal exposure to these pesticides, oxidative stress, and 
respiratory and allergic outcomes in mothers and children.  The ISA cohort provides critical 
information to assess the potential human health effects of pesticides as these same pesticides are 
used in the US as well as Costa Rica. This proposal will strengthen the ISA cohort for the 
long-term by: 1) creating a more consistent outreach program to inform the cohort members as well 
as their communities, civil society organizations, governmental organizations and private sector 
about study findings on a regular basis; 2) updating participant medical history including 
neurobehavioral and respiratory outcomes and collecting biological samples every two years; 3) 
establishing more complete data documentation to allow for easier collaboration and data sharing; 
4) providing long term specimen storage in Costa Rica; and 5) enhancing understanding of pesticide 
exposure in the cohort and community through aggregation of available exposure data for cohort 
participants, validation of urinary biomarkers with environmental sampling,  air monitoring of 
pesticides at primary schools situated in the study area, and statistical approaches to manage the 
complex exposure data.  This proposal focuses on a community-engaged model to enhance long term 
follow-up by collecting and report data relevant to the community on a routine basis.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9962152
- **Project number:** 5R24ES028526-03
- **Recipient organization:** NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY RALEIGH
- **Principal Investigator:** JANE HOPPIN
- **Activity code:** R24 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $292,972
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-30 → 2023-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9962152

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9962152, Maintaining and enriching the Infants Environmental Health Study (ISA) (5R24ES028526-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9962152. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*