Measuring Analytes in Maternal Archived Samples (MAMAS)
Analysis of persistent chemicals in blood collected from pregnant individuals during prenatal screening
The Measuring Analytes in Maternal Archived Samples (MAMAS) project is designed to evaluate chemical exposures of pregnant individuals across California. For the MAMAS project, Biomonitoring California is analyzing a subset of blood samples collected as part of prenatal screening conducted by California’s Genetic Disease Screening Program (GDSP). GDSP screens blood samples from over 350,000 pregnant individuals each year through its Prenatal Screening Program, a statewide public health program that helps detect genetic defects in children before they are born. Some of the defects that can be detected are Down syndrome, Trisomy 18, Trisomy 13, and neural tube defects. While GDSP provides the samples, the laboratory evaluation and analyses were conducted entirely by Biomonitoring California.
Samples used in MAMAS came from selected counties across California and were analyzed in three phases:
In MAMAS 1, 460 samples collected by GDSP in Orange and San Diego Counties in 2012 were analyzed. In MAMAS 2, 540 samples collected by GDSP in four geographic regions (Alameda/Contra Costa Counties, Los Angeles County, the Northern Counties, and Riverside/San Bernardino Counties) in 2015-2016 were analyzed. In MAMAS 3, 300 samples collected by GDSP in three geographic regions (North Bay, San Francisco/Central Coast, and Southern Counties) in 2016-2017 were analyzed. MAMAS project samples were selected to provide sufficiently large strata for comparison by race; summary statistics are therefore not necessarily reflective of the underlying population.
Biomonitoring California continues to partner with GDSP to study chemical exposures of pregnant individuals in California.
