Maternal ambient air pollution exposure with spatial-temporal variations and preterm birth risk assessment during 2013-2017 in Zhejiang Province, China

Zhe Sun; Liyang Yang; Xiaoxia Bai; Wei Du; Guofeng Shen; Jie Fei; Yonghui Wang; An Chen; Yuanchen Chen; Meirong Zhao

doi:10.1016/j.envint.2019.105242

Maternal ambient air pollution exposure with spatial-temporal variations and preterm birth risk assessment during 2013-2017 in Zhejiang Province, China

Environ Int. 2019 Dec;133(Pt B):105242. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2019.105242. Epub 2019 Oct 26.

Authors

Zhe Sun¹, Liyang Yang², Xiaoxia Bai³, Wei Du⁴, Guofeng Shen⁵, Jie Fei², Yonghui Wang², An Chen⁶, Yuanchen Chen⁷, Meirong Zhao²

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology for Industrial Pollution Control of Zhejiang Province, College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310014, China; Cardiovascular Epidemiology Unit, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB1 8RN, UK.
² Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology for Industrial Pollution Control of Zhejiang Province, College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310014, China.
³ Women's Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310006, China. Electronic address: baixiaoxia@zju.edu.cn.
⁴ Ministry of Education Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; School of Geographical Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China.
⁵ Ministry of Education Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
⁶ College of Information Engineering, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310018, China.
⁷ Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology for Industrial Pollution Control of Zhejiang Province, College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310014, China. Electronic address: chenyuanchen1988@zjut.edu.cn.

PMID: 31665677
DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2019.105242

Abstract

Preterm birth (PTB) can give rise to significant neonatal morbidity and mortality, as well as children's long-term health defects. Many studies have illustrated the associations between ambient air pollution exposure during gestational periods and PTB risks, but most of them only focused on one single air pollutant, such as PM_2.5. In this population-based environmental-epidemiology study, we recruited 6275 pregnant mothers in Zhejiang Province, China, and evaluated their gestational exposures to various air pollutants during 2013-2017. Time-to-event logistic regressions were performed to estimate risk associations after adjusting all confounders, and Quasi-AQI model and PCA-GLM analysis were applied to resolve the collinearity issues in multi-pollutant regression models. It was found that gestational exposure to ambient air pollutants was significantly associated with the occurrence of PTB, and SO₂ was the largest contributor with a proportion of 29.4%. Three new variables, prime factor (a combination of PM_2.5, PM₁₀, SO₂, and NO₂), carbon factor (CO), and ozone factor (O₃), were generated by PCA integration, contributing 63.4%, 17.1%, and 19.5% to PTB risks, respectively. The first and third trimester was the most crucial exposure window, suggesting the pregnant mothers better to avoid severe air pollution exposures during these sensitive periods.

Keywords: Ambient air pollution; Collinearity issues; Concentration-response relationship; Gestational exposure; Influencing factors; Preterm birth.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Air Pollutants / analysis
Air Pollution / statistics & numerical data*
China
Female
Humans
Inhalation Exposure / statistics & numerical data*
Maternal Exposure / statistics & numerical data*
Pregnancy
Premature Birth / epidemiology*
Risk Assessment

Substances

Air Pollutants