title: Racial/ethnic disparities in preterm birth: clues from environmental exposures.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Despite advances in medical care, preterm birth and its associated racial/ethnic disparities remain major public health issues. Environmental exposures may contribute to racial disparities in preterm birth.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Recent work in Iran demonstrated lead levels less than 10 μg/dl to be associated with preterm birth and premature rupture of membranes. Data on air pollution are mixed. A study in California found exposure to nitric oxide species to be associated with preterm birth. However, results from large birth cohorts in the Netherlands found no association. Interestingly, a study in South Korea recently demonstrated that socioeconomic status modifies the association between air pollution and preterm birth. A recent promising study randomized minority pregnant women in Washington, District of Columbia, to cognitive behavioral therapy vs. usual care to decrease exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). The investigators reported reductions in ETS exposure and the risk of very preterm birth.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Clues about potential mechanisms underlying disparities in preterm birth can be gained from exploring differences in environmental exposures. Investigators should include environmental variables when studying birth outcomes. Such efforts should result in targeted interventions to decrease the incidence of preterm birth and its disparities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neonatology, Division of Newborn Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, and Division of Emergency Medicine, Children's Hospital Boston, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA. heburris@bidmc.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Heather H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Burris
authors.forename: James W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Collins
authors.forename: Robert O
authors.initials: RO
authors.lastname: Wright
mesh_terms: D000397:Air Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006801:Humans; D007854:Lead / Q000009:adverse effects; D018811:Maternal Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011247:Pregnancy; D047928:Premature Birth / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000209:etiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution; D007854:Lead