Association between air pollution and low birth weight: a community-based study
- PMID:9222137
- PMCID: PMC1469882
- DOI: 10.1289/ehp.97105514
Association between air pollution and low birth weight: a community-based study
Abstract
The relationship between maternal exposure to air pollution during periods of pregnancy (entire and specific periods) and birth weight was investigated in a well-defined cohort. Between 1988 and 1991, all pregnant women living in four residential areas of Beijing were registered and followed from early pregnancy until delivery. Information on individual mothers and infants was collected. Daily air pollution data were obtained independently. The sample for analysis included 74,671 first-parity live births were gestational age 37-44 weeks. Multiple linear regression and logistic regression were used to estimate the effects of air pollution on birth weight and low birth weight (< 2,500 g), adjusting for gestational age, residence, year of birth, maternal age, and infant gender. There was a significant exposure-response relationship between maternal exposures to sulfur dioxide (SO2) and total suspended particles (TSP) during the third trimester of pregnancy and infant birth weight. The adjusted odds ratio for low birth weight was 1.11 (95% CI, 1.06-1.16) for each 100 micrograms/m3 increase in SO2 and 1.10 (95% CI, 1.05-1.14) for each 100 micrograms/m3 increase in TSP. The estimated reduction in birth weight was 7.3 g and 6.9 g for each 100 micrograms/m3 increase in SO2 and in TSP, respectively. The birth weight distribution of the high-exposure group was more skewed toward the left tail (i.e., with higher proportion of births < 2,500 g) than that of the low-exposure group. Although the effects of other unmeasured risk factors cannot be excluded with certainty, our data suggests that TSP and SO2, or a more complex pollution mixture associated with these pollutants, contribute to an excess risk of low birth weight in the Beijing population.
PIP: The association between maternal exposure to air pollution during pregnancy and birth weight was investigated in all pregnant women living in four residential areas (Dongcheng, Xicheng, Congwen, and Xuanwu) of Beijing, China, during 1988-91. The sample included 74,671 first-parity live births with a gestational age of 37-44 weeks. The overall mean birth weight was 3318 g; only 2.9% of births were under 2500 g. Regression analyses, adjusted for gestational age, residence, year of birth, maternal age, and infant gender, revealed a significant exposure-response relationship between maternal exposure to sulfur dioxide and total suspended particles during the third trimester of pregnancy and infant birth weight. The adjusted odds ratio for low birth weight was 1.11 (95% confidence interval, 1.06-1.16) for each 100 mcg/cu. m increase in sulfur dioxide and 1.10 (95% confidence interval, 1.05-1.14) for each 100 mcg/cu. m increase in total suspended particles. The estimated reductions in birth weight were 7.3 g and 6.9 g, respectively, for each 100 mcg/cu. m increase. The birth weight distribution of the high-exposure group was skewed toward the left tail, with a higher proportion of low-birth-weight deliveries. Although this study was unable to measure the effects of other risk factors such as indoor air pollution, cigarette smoking, and occupational exposures, it suggests that intrauterine exposure to air pollutants contributes to an excess risk of low birth weight.
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