Outdoor exposure to airborne polycyclic organic matter and adverse reproductive outcomes: A pilot study

Abstract

This study found associations between outdoor exposure to modeled average airborne POM and several adverse pregnancy outcomes. The data and methods utilized in this pilot study may be useful for identifying hazardous air pollutants requiring in-depth investigation.

Prenatal ambient air pollution exposure and the risk of stillbirth: systematic review and meta-analysis of the empirical evidence

“…Whereas Hwang et al 24 applied a 25 km radius. The exposure assignments in the studies by Kim et al ,26 Pearce et al 25 and Vassilev et al 32 were not based on any fixed radius. The two ecological studies30 31 used annual mean concentrations of the pollutants studied to assign exposures.…”

“…Two studies30 31 were semiecological, that is, the exposure was assessed at group level and the outcome at individual level, and another two studies were cross-sectional32 33 with one study24 applying a case control design. Of the two epidemiological studies with assessment of short-term air pollution exposure, one21 applied a case-crossover design with the hazard period defined as lag day 2 and reference periods selected by matching on the weekday within the same calendar month, and they also used two through 6 days before delivery as lag days.…”

“…Landgren33 categorised each exposure in two ways, (1) above and below the mean exposure value (SO 2: 8.0 µg/g, CH: 6.6 µg/g and NO: 14.7 µg/g) of all the included municipalities and (2) the municipality with the highest exposure level was compared with all other municipalities. Vassilev et al 32 used statewide combined modelled average concentrations for each census tract and categorised exposures into low (0.040–0.268 mg/m 3 ), medium (0.269–0.610 mg/m 3 ) and high exposure (0.611–2.830 mg/m 3 ) level with low exposure serving as the reference in the analysis. The included studies measured 13 pollutants including SO 2 , NO 2 , CO, particles (PM 2.5 , PM 10 , SPM), O 3 , NO, POM, NO x , hydrocarbon (CH), black smoke, which was taken as equivalent to PM 4 in the study that measured this pollutant,25 and suspended solids.…”

“…Of the 11 studies relying on air monitoring station data, seven studies21 23–28 and that by Vassilev et al 32 assigned exposures to mothers based on their residential addresses at the time of delivery. Regarding the studies conducted by Faiz et al 21 23 and DeFranco et al ,27 mothers had to live within a 10 km radius of the closest monitoring station; and Green et al 28 used 20 km radius for PM 2.5 , O 3 , SO 2 and 5 km radius for CO and NO 2 to be included in the studies.…”

Assessing the Influence of Traffic-related Air Pollution on Risk of Term Low Birth Weight on the Basis of Land-Use-based Regression Models and Measures of Air Toxics

“…Some epidemiologic studies support a role for PAHs in small size for gestational age (42) and term LBW (48,49). The only US studies were based on a small birth cohort in New York City (12,43,50), which linked third-trimester PAH exposures (including benzo[a]pyrene and benzo[g,h,i] perylene) to reduced birth weight and head circumference and to higher risks of preterm birth and small size for gestational age among African Americans but not Dominicans (11,12).…”