The impacts of air pollution on maternal stress during pregnancy

Abstract

To investigate the association of air pollution with maternal stress during pregnancy, we enrolled 1,931 women during mid-to-late pregnancy in Shanghai in 2010. The “Life-Event Scale for Pregnant Women” and “Symptom-Checklist-90-Revised Scale” (SCL-90-R) were used to evaluate life event stress and emotional stress, respectively. Air pollution data were collected for each district where pregnant women lived during pregnancy. We associated ambient air pollution with stress scores using multivariable logistic regression models. After adjusting for relevant covariates, an interquartile-range (IQR) increase in sulphur-dioxide (SO2) (OR = 1.30, 95% CI: 1.11–1.52) and particulate-matter with an aerodynamic-diameter <10 μm (PM10) (OR = 1.16, 95% CI: 1.02–1.34) concentrations on the recruitment day, and in the 5-day moving average concentrations of nitrogen-dioxide (NO2) (OR = 1.34, 95% CI: 1.05–1.70) were associated with high Global-Severity-Indices (P75-P100) of the SCL-90-R. These associations were stronger among women bearing high levels (P25-P100) of air pollutants than among women experiencing low levels (P1-P25) of pollutants. The stronger associations and higher levels of pollutants were observed in the cool season than in the warm season. SO2 increases on the recruitment day were also associated with an increased risk of high depression scores (P75-P100). Our findings supported a dose-dependent association between air pollution and emotional stress during pregnancy.

Impact of air pollution on depression and suicide

“…(2017) [34] prospective cohort study ozone, PM 2.5 , PM 10 association between both long-term ozone and PM 2.5 exposure and depression onset, specifically stronger with antidepressant use Lin et al (2017) [43] cross-sectional study sulphur dioxide, sarticulate matter dose-dependent association between air pollution and emotional stress during pregnancy Tallon et al (2017) [28] observational, longitudinal, populationbased study PM 2.5 positive associations between recent long-term ambient PM 2.5 levels and erectile dysfunction, depression and stress IJOMEH 2018;31(6) 715 was found that women living in areas with higher levels of NO 2 , PM 10 and SO 2 in addition to increased levels of stress during pregnancy have a higher risk of depressive episodes [43].…”

Exposure to particulate matter, prenatal depressive symptoms and HPA axis dysregulation

“…Recent studies suggest that exposure to air pollution during pregnancy may play a role in development of depressive symptoms and postpartum depression ( Niedzwiecki et al., 2020 ; Sheffield et al., 2018 ). One study also has shown an association of exposure to particulate matter from mid to late pregnancy with higher levels of psychological distress during pregnancy ( Lin et al., 2017 ), although they did not find an association specifically with depression. To our knowledge, the association between exposure to air pollution in different trimesters of pregnancy and prenatal depression has not been examined.…”

Ambient concentrations of NO2 and hospital admissions for schizophrenia

“…Air pollution, as one of the world’s largest health challenges,6 has already been linked to the incidence of human psychological health 7. For example, exposure to air pollution has been found to increase the risk of suicide,8 depression,9 maternal stress,10 autism11 and so on.…”