title: Maternal exposure to air pollutant PM2.5 and PM10 during pregnancy and risk of congenital heart defects.
abstract: Maternal exposure to ambient air pollution has increasingly been linked to congenital heart defects (CHDs). The objective of this study was to evaluate whether high levels of maternal exposure to PM2.5 and PM10 are related to increased risk of CHDs in Wuhan, China. We conducted a cohort study with a total of 105,988 live-born infants, stillbirths, and fetal deaths. The study included mothers living in the urban district of Wuhan during pregnancy over the 2-year period from 10 June 2011 to 9 June 2013. For each study participant, we assigned 1-month and 1-week averages of PM10 and PM2.5 exposure based on measurements obtained from the nearest exposure monitor to the living residence of mothers during their early pregnancy period. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to calculate the adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the association between exposure to these ambient air pollutants during early pregnancy and CHDs. We observed an increased risk of CHDs, particularly ventricular septal defect (VSD), with increasing PM2.5 exposure. Using 1-week averages, we also observed significant monotonically increasing associations between PM2.5 exposure during weeks 7-10 of pregnancy and risk of VSD, with aORs ranging from 1.11 to 1.17 (95% CI: 1.02-1.20, 1.03-1.22, 1.05-1.24, and 1.08-1.26 separately) per a 10 μg/m(3) change in PM2.5 concentration. Our study contributes to the small body of knowledge regarding the association between in utero exposure to air pollution and CHDs, but confirmation of these associations will be needed in future studies.
authors.affiliation: Guidance Department for General Staff, Wuhan Women and Children Health Care Center, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Wuhan Environmental Monitoring Center, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.
authors.forename: Shengwen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Guidance Department for General Staff, Wuhan Women and Children Health Care Center, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.
authors.forename: Jinzhu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, College for Public Health and Social Justice, Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, Missouri, USA.
authors.forename: Zhengmin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale University School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
authors.forename: Bryan A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Bassig
authors.affiliation: Guidance Department for General Staff, Wuhan Women and Children Health Care Center, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Guidance Department for General Staff, Wuhan Women and Children Health Care Center, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.
authors.forename: Yiming
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Wuhan Environmental Monitoring Center, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.
authors.forename: Ke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Shunqing
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale University School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
authors.forename: Tongzhang
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Guidance Department for General Staff, Wuhan Women and Children Health Care Center, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.
authors.forename: Shaoping
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006345:Heart Septal Defects, Ventricular / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D018811:Maternal Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D010316:Particle Size; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011264:Pregnancy Trimesters; D012307:Risk Factors; D014505:Urban Population; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D052638:Particulate Matter