Exposure to local, source-specific ambient air pollution during pregnancy and autism in children : a cohort study from southern Sweden
(2023) In Scientific Reports 13(1).- Abstract
Evidence of air pollution exposure, namely, ambient particulate matter (PM), during pregnancy and an increased risk of autism in children is growing; however, the unique PM sources that contribute to this association are currently unknown. The aim of the present study was to investigate local, source-specific ambient PM exposure during pregnancy and its associations with childhood autism, specifically, and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) as a group. A cohort of 40,245 singleton births from 2000 to 2009 in Scania, Sweden, was combined with data on locally emitted PM with an aerodynamic diameter < 2.5 µm (PM2.5). A flat, two-dimensional dispersion model was used to assess local PM2.5 concentrations (all-source... (More)
Evidence of air pollution exposure, namely, ambient particulate matter (PM), during pregnancy and an increased risk of autism in children is growing; however, the unique PM sources that contribute to this association are currently unknown. The aim of the present study was to investigate local, source-specific ambient PM exposure during pregnancy and its associations with childhood autism, specifically, and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) as a group. A cohort of 40,245 singleton births from 2000 to 2009 in Scania, Sweden, was combined with data on locally emitted PM with an aerodynamic diameter < 2.5 µm (PM2.5). A flat, two-dimensional dispersion model was used to assess local PM2.5 concentrations (all-source PM2.5, small-scale residential heating- mainly wood burning, tailpipe exhaust, and vehicle wear-and-tear) at the mother’s residential address during pregnancy. Associations were analyzed using binary logistic regression. Exposure to local PM2.5 during pregnancy from each of the investigated sources was associated with childhood autism in the fully adjusted models. For ASD, similar, but less pronounced, associations were found. The results add to existing evidence that exposure to air pollution during pregnancy may be associated with an increased risk of childhood autism. Further, these findings suggest that locally produced emissions from both residential wood burning and road traffic-related sources (tailpipe exhaust and vehicle wear-and-tear) contribute to this association.
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- author
- Flanagan, Erin LU ; Malmqvist, Ebba LU ; Rittner, Ralf LU ; Gustafsson, Peik LU ; Källén, Karin LU and Oudin, Anna LU
- organization
-
- Planetary Health (research group)
- Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Lund University
- LTH Profile Area: Aerosols
- EpiHealth: Epidemiology for Health
- Evidence based clinical methods (research group)
- Disorders in clinical child and adolescent psychiatry (research group)
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- Obstetrics and Gynaecology (Lund)
- Environmental Epidemiology (research group)
- Tornblad Institute (research group)
- eSSENCE: The e-Science Collaboration
- publishing date
- 2023-12
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- Scientific Reports
- volume
- 13
- issue
- 1
- article number
- 3848
- publisher
- Nature Publishing Group
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:36890287
- scopus:85149680727
- ISSN
- 2045-2322
- DOI
- 10.1038/s41598-023-30877-5
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 081e6fce-29cc-4628-abc8-f5a6083a2b27
- date added to LUP
- 2023-04-21 10:52:38
- date last changed
- 2024-09-08 09:12:37
@article{081e6fce-29cc-4628-abc8-f5a6083a2b27, abstract = {{<p>Evidence of air pollution exposure, namely, ambient particulate matter (PM), during pregnancy and an increased risk of autism in children is growing; however, the unique PM sources that contribute to this association are currently unknown. The aim of the present study was to investigate local, source-specific ambient PM exposure during pregnancy and its associations with childhood autism, specifically, and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) as a group. A cohort of 40,245 singleton births from 2000 to 2009 in Scania, Sweden, was combined with data on locally emitted PM with an aerodynamic diameter < 2.5 µm (PM<sub>2.5</sub>). A flat, two-dimensional dispersion model was used to assess local PM<sub>2.5</sub> concentrations (all-source PM<sub>2.5</sub>, small-scale residential heating- mainly wood burning, tailpipe exhaust, and vehicle wear-and-tear) at the mother’s residential address during pregnancy. Associations were analyzed using binary logistic regression. Exposure to local PM<sub>2.5</sub> during pregnancy from each of the investigated sources was associated with childhood autism in the fully adjusted models. For ASD, similar, but less pronounced, associations were found. The results add to existing evidence that exposure to air pollution during pregnancy may be associated with an increased risk of childhood autism. Further, these findings suggest that locally produced emissions from both residential wood burning and road traffic-related sources (tailpipe exhaust and vehicle wear-and-tear) contribute to this association.</p>}}, author = {{Flanagan, Erin and Malmqvist, Ebba and Rittner, Ralf and Gustafsson, Peik and Källén, Karin and Oudin, Anna}}, issn = {{2045-2322}}, language = {{eng}}, number = {{1}}, publisher = {{Nature Publishing Group}}, series = {{Scientific Reports}}, title = {{Exposure to local, source-specific ambient air pollution during pregnancy and autism in children : a cohort study from southern Sweden}}, url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-30877-5}}, doi = {{10.1038/s41598-023-30877-5}}, volume = {{13}}, year = {{2023}}, }