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Associations between maternal exposure to air pollution and birth outcomes: a retrospective cohort study in Taizhou, China

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Abstract

Previous studies from Western country settings had shown correlation between maternal exposure to air pollution and pregnancy outcomes; however, the evidence is difficult to clearly interpret. We aimed to investigate the association of maternal exposure to air pollution expressed as particulate matter (PM2.5, PM10) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). The exposure was assessed for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd trimester and related to the birth outcomes. During each trimester of gestation, the effect of PM2.5, PM10, and NO2 exposure as well as the entire pregnancy on the preterm birth, low birth weight, and term babies’ birth weight was explored. The dataset of 26,998 delivered live births between January 1, 2013 and May 31, 2016, were collected from the Taizhou Maternal and Child Care Service Center. Air monitoring data were collected from the Taizhou Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center for the same period. We used multi-variable logistic and linear regression analyses to investigate the correlation of air pollution to maternal and outcomes of birth. In models of adjusted single pollutant for second trimester, NO2 concentration was positively correlated with term low birth weight and preterm birth [aRR for an interquartile range increase: 1.59 (1.44, 1.75); 1.27 (1.12, 1.44)]; likewise, a 1 μg/m3 increase in NO2 was correlated with a reduction in birth weight 2.94 g (P < 0.001) in linear models. Each of PM2.5 and PM10 concentration was also associated with preterm birth [aRR for an interquartile range increase 1.30 (1.21, 1.38); 1.39 (1.27, 1.52)]. In co-pollutant models, the results were similar. Maternal exposure to air pollutant in Taizhou was associated with an increased risk of preterm birth and reduction in birth weight. We reported a potential link between maternal exposure to air pollution and negative outcomes of birth in Taizhou, China.

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Funding

This study was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFC1000207), the National Science Fund for Outstanding Young Scholars (81322039), 2016 annual Jiangsu Province Blue Project Innovation Team of University, and the Key Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China (81630085).

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Author notes

  1. Lin Ye and Yinwen Ji contributed equally to this study and should be regarded as joint first authors.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, 818 East Tianyuan Road, Nanjing, 210029, People’s Republic of China

    Lin Ye, Yinwen Ji, Chuncheng Lu, Bo Xu & Yankai Xia

  2. Taizhou Maternal and Child Health Care Center, 399 Hailing South Road, Taizhou, 225300, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China

    Lin Ye

  3. State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Institute of Toxicology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, China

    Yinwen Ji, Chuncheng Lu, Bo Xu & Yankai Xia

  4. School of Business, Nanjing University, 22 Hankou Road, Nanjing, 210093, People’s Republic of China

    Wei Lv

  5. The First School of Clinical Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, 300 Guangzhou Road, Nanjing, 210029, People’s Republic of China

    Yining Zhu

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  1. Lin Ye
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Correspondence to Yankai Xia.

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The Institutional Review Board of Nanjing Medical University approved this study protocol.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Ye, L., Ji, Y., Lv, W. et al. Associations between maternal exposure to air pollution and birth outcomes: a retrospective cohort study in Taizhou, China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25, 21927–21936 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-1944-z

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