Urinary 1-hydroxypyrene in pregnant women in a Northeastern U.S. city: socioeconomic disparity and contributions from air pollution sources

Yan Lin; Emily Craig; Xiaodong Liu; Yihui Ge; Jessica Brunner; Xiangtian Wang; Zhenchun Yang; Philip K Hopke; Richard K Miller; Emily S Barrett; Sally W Thurston; Susan K Murphy; Thomas G O'Connor; David Q Rich; Junfeng Jim Zhang

doi:10.1038/s41370-023-00555-9

Urinary 1-hydroxypyrene in pregnant women in a Northeastern U.S. city: socioeconomic disparity and contributions from air pollution sources

J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol. 2023 May 9. doi: 10.1038/s41370-023-00555-9. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Yan Lin^#¹, Emily Craig^#¹, Xiaodong Liu^#², Yihui Ge¹, Jessica Brunner^{3

4}, Xiangtian Wang¹, Zhenchun Yang¹, Philip K Hopke^{5

6}, Richard K Miller^{3

7

8

9}, Emily S Barrett^{3

5

10}, Sally W Thurston^{7

11}, Susan K Murphy¹², Thomas G O'Connor^{3

4

13

14}, David Q Rich^{5

7

15}, Junfeng Jim Zhang¹⁶

Affiliations

¹ Nicholas School of the Environment & Duke Global Health Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
² State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, National Center for Respiratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
³ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA.
⁵ Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA.
⁶ Institute for a Sustainable Environment, Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY, USA.
⁷ Department of Environmental Medicine, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA.
⁸ Department of Pediatrics, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA.
⁹ Department of Pathology and Clinical Laboratory Medicine, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Rutgers School of Public Health, Piscataway, NJ, USA.
¹¹ Department of Biostatistics and Computational Biology, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA.
¹² Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA.
¹³ Department of Psychology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Neuroscience, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA.
¹⁵ Department of Medicine, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA.
¹⁶ Nicholas School of the Environment & Duke Global Health Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA. junfeng.zhang@duke.edu.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 37161057
DOI: 10.1038/s41370-023-00555-9

Abstract

Background: Maternal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), ubiquitous constituents of air pollution, has been associated with adverse birth outcomes. Yet it remains unclear whether and how socioeconomic status (SES) affects gestational PAH exposure.

Objective: To examine whether there are socioeconomic disparities in PAHs exposure among pregnant women from Rochester, NY, and if so, to what extent disproportionate proximity to air pollution sources, measured by residential distance to transportation-related sources, contributed to the exposure disparity.

Methods: We measured 1-hydroxypyrene concentrations in 726 urine samples collected from 305 pregnant women up to three samples throughout pregnancy. Residential distances to transportation-related sources were calculated based on participants' home addresses. We used linear mixed-effects models with random intercepts of participants to examine associations between 1-hydroxypyrene, SES indicators, and distance to transportation-related sources. We used structural equation modelling to assess to what extent distance to transportation-related sources contributes to the socioeconomic disparity in 1-hydroxypyrene concentrations.

Results: Reduced household income and maternal education level were both significant SES predictors of 1-hydroxypyrene concentrations, after the adjustment for other maternal demographic characteristics. Each interquartile range (IQR) increases in residential proximity to the airport (from 14.3 to 6.0 km), the railroad yard (from 22.3 to 6.0 km), and annual average daily traffic within 300 m (from 3796 to 99,933 vehicles/year) were associated with 15.0% (95%CI: 7.0-22.2%), 15.4% (95%CI: 6.5-23.5%), and 13.6% (95%CI: 4.7-23.3%) increases in 1-hydroxypyrene concentrations, respectively. Proximity to these sources jointly explained 10% (95%CI: 1.6-18.4%) of the 1-hydroxypyrene concentration change associated with decreases in SES as a latent variable defined by both household income and education level.

Impact statement: Our findings suggest that efforts to address disproportionate residential proximity to transportation-related sources may reduce the socioeconomic disparity in PAH exposure.

Keywords: Air pollution; Biomarker; Environmental justice; PAHs; Pregnancy; Traffic.

Grants and funding

R01 ES027495/ES/NIEHS NIH HHS/United States