Several studies have identified high concentrations of air pollution as harmful to the developing fetus, but few studies of traffic-derived air pollution and birth outcomes have been conducted in areas of low to moderate air pollution. We identified singleton live births between 1997 and 2005 (N = 367,046 births) in the Puget Sound Air Basin of Washington State. We estimated nitrogen dioxide (NO2) exposure using a land use regression model of traffic, PM2.5 exposure from the nearest community monitor, and proximity to highways/roadways for the residential location of all subjects. Logistic regression estimates of odds ratios (OR) of small for gestational age (SGA) and low birth weight (<2,500 g) among term births were calculated. We observed a modest association between SGA births with increasing quartile of first trimester NO2 exposure: second (OR = 1.01, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.97, 1.04), third (OR = 1.06, 95 % CI 1.03, 1.10), and fourth (OR = 1.08, 95 % CI 1.04, 1.12) (p trend <0.001). We did not observe an association between PM2.5 and SGA or low birth weight among term births. Our findings suggest that prenatal exposure to traffic-derived air pollutants has a modest effect on fetal growth in a region with low overall air pollutant concentrations. Given the modest associations, future studies in similar settings that maximize the opportunity to address potential residual confounding are needed. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
CITATION STYLE
Sathyanarayana, S., Zhou, C., Rudra, C. B., Gould, T., Larson, T., Koenig, J., & Karr, C. J. (2013). Prenatal ambient air pollution exposure and small for gestational age birth in the Puget Sound Air Basin. Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health, 6(2), 455–463. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11869-012-0182-7
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