MIREC Canada Information

The Maternal-Infant Research on Environmental Chemicals (MIREC) Study is a multi-year research study co-led by Health Canada scientists along with university researchers. The MIREC study recruited 2,000 women early in their pregnancy between 2008 and 2011 from 10 cities across Canada. The study was designed to obtain national-level biomonitoring data on environmental chemicals and beneficial nutrients for pregnant women and their infants. A major goal of the research is to examine potential effects of prenatal exposure to environmental chemicals on the health of mothers and their babies. Since its inception, MIREC has expanded into the MIREC Research Platform as researchers have continued to collect data and biospecimens over time from participants. The MIREC children have been followed through infancy, early childhood, and currently early adolescence. The MIREC Research Platform is a unique and extensive platform of data and biospecimens. This research platform provides powerful and efficient opportunities for addressing scientific questions relevant to: I. The potential impact of environmental chemical exposures on maternal and child health. II. Levels of exposure to environmental chemicals in Canadian mothers and their children during windows of vulnerability (pregnancy and early development). These exposures include legacy chemicals that persist in the environment, as well as new emerging chemicals for which biomonitoring and health outcome data are scarce. III. The role of adequate nutrient intake in reducing the potential toxicity of certain chemicals. The MIREC Research Platform stands out internationally for its robust sample size, interdisciplinarity, extensive biomonitoring data, and prospective follow-up of both mothers and children. Over 100 scientific papers have been published using MIREC data.