Association between particulate air pollution exposure during pregnancy and postpartum maternal psychological functioning

Abstract

Postpartum psychological functioning impacts both women’s health and outcomes in children. Lower income, ethnic minority women may be at particular risk for adverse postpartum mental health outcomes. Studies link ambient air pollution exposure with psychological dysfunction in adults although this association has not been examined among postpartum women.MethodsWe studied associations between prenatal exposure to particulate matter with diameter ≤ 2.5 μm (PM2.5) and postpartum psychological functioning in a lower income, ethnically mixed sample of urban US women enrolled in a pregnancy cohort study. Analyses included 557 mothers who delivered at ≥37 weeks gestation. Daily estimates of residential PM2.5 over gestation were derived using a satellite-based spatio-temporally resolved model. Outcomes included the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) score from 6 or 12 months postpartum and subscale scores for anhedonia, depressive and anxiety symptoms. Associations were also examined within racial/ethnic groups. Distributed lag models (DLMs) were implemented to identify windows of vulnerability during pregnancy.ResultsMost mothers had less than a high school education (64%) and were primarily Hispanic (55%) and Black (29%). In the overall sample, a DLM adjusted for age, race, education, prenatal smoking, and season of delivery, we found significant associations between higher PM2.5 exposure in the second trimester and increased anhedonia subscale scores postpartum. In race stratified analyses, mid-pregnancy PM2.5 exposure was significantly associated with increased total EPDS scores as well as higher anhedonia and depressive symptom subscale scores among Black women.ConclusionsIncreased PM2.5 exposure in mid-pregnancy was associated with increased depressive and anhedonia symptoms, particularly in Black women.

Effects of early postnatal exposure to fine particulate matter on emotional and cognitive development and structural synaptic plasticity in immature and mature rats

“…Taken together, these discrepancies between different studies could be due to differences in PM2.5 exposure time and dosage. Moreover, evidences have shown exposure to PM2.5 in adulthood is an important risk factor for depression and anxiety symptoms in old adults and pregnant women (Pun, Manjourides, & Suh, ; Sheffield et al, ). However, the relationship between early postnatal exposure to PM2.5 and anxiety or depression phenotype in children and adults remains unknown at present; our findings provide experimental basis for relative epidemiological investigation.…”

Considering Xenobiotics as Risk Factors for Postpartum Depression: A Qualitative Systematic Review

“…In stratified analyses, effects were most evident among African-American women. For this group of women, increased exposure to PM 2.5 was significantly associated with higher total postpartum EPDS scores as well as higher scores on the depressive and anhedonia symptom subscales, with minor variability in the identified window of vulnerability in pregnancy across these outcome measures (Sheffield et al, 2018).…”

“…The participants included an ethnically diverse, lower income urban cohort of pregnant women. The results demonstrated an association between prenatal ambient PM 2.5 exposure levels and postpartum total EPDS and the investigators observed a statistically significant sensitive window of PM 2.5 exposure for elevated anhedonia subscale scores during mid-pregnancy, especially gestational weeks 13 to 20 (Sheffield et al, 2018). In stratified analyses, effects were most evident among African-American women.…”

“…The one study that investigated air pollution found that increased particulate air pollution exposure was associated with an increased risk in depressive symptoms in the postpartum period. Sheffield et al (2018) aimed to determine a link between air pollution exposure with psychological functioning among postpartum women. The participants included an ethnically diverse, lower income urban cohort of pregnant women.…”

“…The main findings of this systematic review suggest that those exposed to active/passive smoke (cigarette/tobacco) during the prenatal/perinatal period had the greatest risk of developing postpartum depression and depressive symptoms in the postpartum period, compared to the other categories of toxicants. The literature does support a link between certain environmental toxicants and postpartum depression (Chen et al, 2018;Dagher & Shenassa, 2012;Frandsen et al, 2017;Munafò et al, 2008;Salimi et al, 2015;Sheffield et al, 2018;Singata-Madiliki et al, 2016;Vivilaki et al, 2016), although there were studies with inconclusive results and/or that found no association. These observations will be further explained throughout the following sections and the results for each category of toxicant will be interpreted.…”