Association between maternal exposure to particulate matter (PM2.5) and adverse pregnancy outcomes in Lima, Peru

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: V. L. Tapia, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia; B. V. Vasquez, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia; B. Vu, Emory University; Yang Liu, Emory University; Nelson Steenland, Emory University; G. F. Gonzales, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia
• Language: English
• Date: 2020-04-30
• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © The Author(s) 2020.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41370-020-0223-5
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology
• Volume: 30
• Issue: 4
• Start Page: 689
• End Page: 697
• Grant/Funding Information: Research reported in this publication was supported by the NIH Fogarty International Center, National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) R01ES018845, R01ES018845-S1, National Cancer Institute, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and the NIH under Award Number U01 TW0101 07.
• Keywords: Small for gestational age; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Preterm births; Science & Technology; Fetal growth restriction; Public, Environmental & Occupational Health; Air pollution; Population; Low birth weight; Environmental Sciences & Ecology; Weight; PM2; 5; Environmental Sciences; Toxicology; Birth weight
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Obstetrics and Gynecology; Health Sciences, Public Health; Psychology, Physiological; Biophysics, Medical

Abstract

The literature shows associations between maternal exposures to PM2.5 and adverse pregnancy outcomes. There are few data from Latin America. We have examined PM2.5 and pregnancy outcomes in Lima. The study included 123,034 births from 2012 to 2016, at three public hospitals. We used estimated daily PM2.5 from a newly created model developed using ground measurements, satellite data, and a chemical transport model. Exposure was assigned based on district of residence (n = 39). Linear and logistic regression analyzes were used to estimate the associations between air pollution exposure and pregnancy outcomes. Increased exposure to PM2.5 during the entire pregnancy and in the first trimester was inversely associated with birth weight. We found a decrease of 8.13 g (−14.0; −1.84) overall and 18.6 g (−24.4, −12.8) in the first trimester, for an interquartile range (IQR) increase (9.2 µg/m3) in PM2.5. PM2.5 exposure was positively associated with low birth weight at term (TLBW) during entire pregnancy (OR: 1.11; 95% CI: 1.03–1.20), and at the first (OR: 1.11; 95% CI: 1.03–1.20), second (OR: 1.09; 95% CI: 1.01–1.17), and third trimester (OR: 1.10; 95% CI: 1.02–1.18) per IQR (9.2 µg/m3) increase. Higher exposure to PM2.5 was also associated with increased risk of small for gestational age (SGA). There were no statistically significant associations between PM2.5 exposure and preterm births (PTB). Exposure to higher concentrations of PM2.5 in Lima may decrease birth weight and increase the frequency of TLBW and SGA. Our study was inconsistent with the literature in finding no associations with preterm birth.