Roadway construction as a natural experiment to examine air pollution impacts on infant health

Elaine Hill; Max Harleman; Lena Harris; Grace Sventek; Beate Ritz; Erin J Campbell; Mary Willis; Perry Hystad

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2024.118788

Roadway construction as a natural experiment to examine air pollution impacts on infant health

Environ Res. 2024 Mar 28;252(Pt 2):118788. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2024.118788. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Elaine Hill¹, Max Harleman², Lena Harris³, Grace Sventek⁴, Beate Ritz⁵, Erin J Campbell⁶, Mary Willis⁶, Perry Hystad⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Economics, School of Arts and Sciences, University of Rochester, 280 Hutchison Rd, Rochester, NY, USA; Department of Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rochester, 265 Crittenden Blvd Box 420644, Rochester, NY, USA. Electronic address: elaine_hill@URMC.Rochester.edu.
² Department of Government and Sociology, College of Arts and Sciences, Georgia College and State University, 410 W Greene St, Milledgeville, GA, USA.
³ Department of Economics, School of Arts and Sciences, University of Rochester, 280 Hutchison Rd, Rochester, NY, USA.
⁴ Department of Economics, School of Arts and Sciences, University of Rochester, 280 Hutchison Rd, Rochester, NY, USA; Department of Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rochester, 265 Crittenden Blvd Box 420644, Rochester, NY, USA.
⁵ Department of Epidemiology, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, 650 Charles E. Young Dr. South, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
⁶ Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Boston University, 715 Albany St, Boston, MA, USA.
⁷ School of Nutrition and Public Health, College of Health, Oregon State University, 160 SW 26th St, Corvallis, OR, USA.

PMID: 38555097
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2024.118788

Abstract

Traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) poses a significant public health risk that is associated with adverse birth outcomes. Large roadway infrastructure projects present a natural experiment to examine how resulting congestion change is associated with adverse birth outcomes for nearby populations. This study is designed to examine the influence of living close to a roadway before, during, and after a construction project using a difference-in-differences design. We integrated data on all large roadway construction projects (defined as widening of existing roads, building new roads, improving bridges, installing intelligent transportation systems, improving intersections, and installing or upgrading traffic signals) in Texas from 2007 to 2016 with Vital Statistic data for all births with residential addresses within 1 km of construction projects. Our outcomes included term low birth weight, term birth weight, preterm birth, and very preterm birth. Using a difference-in-differences design, we included births within 3 years of construction start and 2 years of construction end. In our main model, the exposed group is limited to pregnant individuals residing within 300 m of a construction project, and the control group includes those living within 300-1000 m from a project. We used regression models to estimate the influence of construction on infant health. We included 1,360 large roadway construction projects linked to 408,979 births. During construction, we found that the odds of term low birth weight increased by 19% (95% CI: 1.05, 1.36). However, we saw little evidence of an association for other birth outcomes. Contrary to our hypothesis of decreased TRAP after construction ends, we did not observe consistent improvements post-construction for pregnant individuals living within 300 m. Continued consideration of the influence of traffic congestion programs on birth outcomes is necessary to inform future policy decisions.

Keywords: Air pollution; Birth outcomes; Construction projects; Natural experiment; Pregnancy; Traffic congestion.