Gestational age modifies the association between exposure to fine particles and fetal death: findings from a nationwide epidemiological study in the contiguous United States.
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2023-09
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The vulnerability of fetuses differs at different developmental stages, in response to environmental stressors such as fine particulate matter (PM2.5), a ubiquitous air pollutant. Whether gestational age (GA) modifies the association between prenatal fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposure and fetal death remains unclear.Methods
We selected approximately 47.8 million eligible United States (US) livebirth and fetal death (defined as a termination at a GA of 20-43 weeks) records from 1989 to 2004. For each record, we took the level of prenatal exposure to PM2.5 as the average concentration in the mother's residential county during the entire gestational period, or a specific trimester (i.e., GA-specific exposure), according to well-established estimates of monthly levels across the contiguous US. First, we evaluated the associations between PM2.5 exposure and fetal death at a specific GA (i.e., GA-specific outcome) using five different logit models (unadjusted, covariate-adjusted, propensity-score, double robust, and diagnostic-score models). Double robust model was selected as the main model due to its advantages in causal inference. Then, we conducted meta-analyses to pool the estimated GA-specific associations, and explored how the pooled estimates varied with GA.Results
According to the meta-analysis, all models suggested gestational PM2.5 exposure was associated with fetal death. However, there was slight heterogeneity in the estimated effects, as different models revealed a range of 3.6-10.7% increase in the odds of fetal death per 5-µg/m3 increment of PM2.5. Each 5-µg/m3 increase in PM2.5 exposure during the entire gestation period significantly increased the odds of fetal death, by 8.1% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 5.1-11.2%). In terms of GA-specific outcomes, the odds of fetal death at a GA of 20-27, 28-36, or ≥ 37 weeks increased by 11.0% (5.9-16.4%), 5.2% (0.4-10.1%), and 8.3% (2.5-14.5%), respectively. In terms of GA-specific exposure, the odds of fetal death increased by 6.0% (3.9-8.2%), 4.1% (3.9-8.2%), and 4.3% (0.5-8.2%) with 5-µg/m3 increases in PM2.5 exposure during the first, second, and third trimester, respectively. The association had the largest effect size (odds ratio = 1.098, 95% CI: 1.061-1.137) between PM2.5 exposure during early gestation (i.e., first trimester) and early fetal death (i.e., 20-27 weeks).Conclusions
Prenatal exposure to PM2.5 was significantly associated with an increased risk of fetal death. The association was varied by gestational-age-specific exposures or outcomes, suggesting gestation age as a potential modifier on the effect of PM2.5. The fetus was most vulnerable during the early stage of development to death associated with PM2.5 exposure.Type
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Tong, Mingkun, Weiwei Lin, Hengyi Liu, Jicheng Gong, Junfeng Jim Zhang and Tao Xue (2023). Gestational age modifies the association between exposure to fine particles and fetal death: findings from a nationwide epidemiological study in the contiguous United States. Environmental health : a global access science source, 22(1). p. 65. 10.1186/s12940-023-01016-4 Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/29047.
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Junfeng Zhang
Dr. Zhang joined the Duke Faculty in fall 2013 from the University of Southern California where he had been a professor of environmental and global health and the director of Environmental and Biomarkers Analysis Laboratory since 2010. His prior positions include professor, department chair, and associate dean at the Rutgers School of Public Health. Dr. Zhang has more than 290 peer-reviewed publications. His work has been featured in major international media such as the Time, the New York Times, BBC, ABC, CBS, Yahoo News, etc. His early work on characterizing sources of non-methane greenhouse gases made him one of the officially recognized contributor to the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to IPCC. He is the 2012 recipient of the Jeremy Wesolowski Award, the highest award of the International Society of Exposure Science. He also received a Distinguished Alumni Award from the Rutgers Graduate School.
Dr. Zhang’s research interests include developing novel biomarkers of human exposure and health effects, assessing health and climate co-benefits of air pollution interventions, and examining biological mechanisms by which environmental exposures exert adverse health effects. Dr. Zhang has led a number of international collaborations to study air pollution health effects and underlying pathophysiologic mechanisms. These studies integrate epidemiological and toxicological approaches into natural experiment designs. He has conducted several indoor air purification intervention studies to evaluate the effectiveness of personal exposure reduction in improving health outcomes in China. Currently, he is conducting intervention trials of residential air purification in older adults with a heart disease history and adults at risk for Type 2 diabetes living in Los Angels where air pollution levels are high. He is co-leading a project to study whether and how particulate matter pollution affects respiratory viral infections in two cities of Mongolia.
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