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Fetal growth and air pollution - A study on ultrasound and birth measures

Malmqvist, Ebba LU orcid ; Liew, Zeyan ; Källén, Karin LU ; Rignell-Hydbom, Anna LU ; Rittner, Ralf LU orcid ; Rylander, Lars LU orcid and Ritz, Beate (2017) In Environmental Research 152. p.73-80
Abstract

Air pollution has been suggested to affect fetal growth, but more data is needed to assess the timing of exposure effects by using ultrasound measures. It is also important to study effects in low exposure areas to assess eventual thresholds of effects. The MAPSS (Maternal Air Pollution in Southern Sweden) cohort consists of linked registry data for around 48,000 pregnancies from an ultrasound database, birth registry and exposure data based on residential addresses. Measures of air pollution exposure were obtained through dispersion modelling with input data from an emissions database (NOx) with high resolution (100–500 m grids). Air pollution effects were assessed with linear regressions for the following endpoints;... (More)

Air pollution has been suggested to affect fetal growth, but more data is needed to assess the timing of exposure effects by using ultrasound measures. It is also important to study effects in low exposure areas to assess eventual thresholds of effects. The MAPSS (Maternal Air Pollution in Southern Sweden) cohort consists of linked registry data for around 48,000 pregnancies from an ultrasound database, birth registry and exposure data based on residential addresses. Measures of air pollution exposure were obtained through dispersion modelling with input data from an emissions database (NOx) with high resolution (100–500 m grids). Air pollution effects were assessed with linear regressions for the following endpoints; biparietal diameter, femur length, abdominal diameter and estimated fetal weight measured in late pregnancy and birth weight and head circumference measured at birth. We estimated negative effects for NOx; in the adjusted analyses the decrease of abdominal diameter and femur length were −0.10 (−0.17, −0.03) and −0.13 (−0.17, −0.01) mm, respectively, per 10 µg/m3 increment of NOx. We also estimated an effect of NOx-exposures on birth weight by reducing birth weight by 9 g per 10 µg/m3 increment of NOx. We estimated small but statistically significant effects of air pollution on late fetal and birth size and reduced fetal growth late in pregnancy in a geographic area with levels below current WHO air quality guidelines.

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author
; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Air pollution, Birth weight, Fetal growth, Nitrogen oxides, Ultrasound
in
Environmental Research
volume
152
pages
8 pages
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:84991728587
  • pmid:27741452
  • wos:000389684600010
ISSN
0013-9351
DOI
10.1016/j.envres.2016.09.017
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
2d515c8a-6a09-433e-8fea-fe0a7dcaa071
date added to LUP
2017-03-21 15:51:56
date last changed
2025-01-20 11:45:52
@article{2d515c8a-6a09-433e-8fea-fe0a7dcaa071,
  abstract     = {{<p>Air pollution has been suggested to affect fetal growth, but more data is needed to assess the timing of exposure effects by using ultrasound measures. It is also important to study effects in low exposure areas to assess eventual thresholds of effects. The MAPSS (Maternal Air Pollution in Southern Sweden) cohort consists of linked registry data for around 48,000 pregnancies from an ultrasound database, birth registry and exposure data based on residential addresses. Measures of air pollution exposure were obtained through dispersion modelling with input data from an emissions database (NO<sub>x</sub>) with high resolution (100–500 m grids). Air pollution effects were assessed with linear regressions for the following endpoints; biparietal diameter, femur length, abdominal diameter and estimated fetal weight measured in late pregnancy and birth weight and head circumference measured at birth. We estimated negative effects for NO<sub>x</sub>; in the adjusted analyses the decrease of abdominal diameter and femur length were −0.10 (−0.17, −0.03) and −0.13 (−0.17, −0.01) mm, respectively, per 10 µg/m<sup>3</sup> increment of NO<sub>x</sub>. We also estimated an effect of NO<sub>x</sub>-exposures on birth weight by reducing birth weight by 9 g per 10 µg/m<sup>3</sup> increment of NO<sub>x</sub>. We estimated small but statistically significant effects of air pollution on late fetal and birth size and reduced fetal growth late in pregnancy in a geographic area with levels below current WHO air quality guidelines.</p>}},
  author       = {{Malmqvist, Ebba and Liew, Zeyan and Källén, Karin and Rignell-Hydbom, Anna and Rittner, Ralf and Rylander, Lars and Ritz, Beate}},
  issn         = {{0013-9351}},
  keywords     = {{Air pollution; Birth weight; Fetal growth; Nitrogen oxides; Ultrasound}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{01}},
  pages        = {{73--80}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Environmental Research}},
  title        = {{Fetal growth and air pollution - A study on ultrasound and birth measures}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2016.09.017}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.envres.2016.09.017}},
  volume       = {{152}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}