title: Uncertainty in maternal exposures to ambient PM2.5 and benzene during pregnancy: Sensitivity to exposure estimation decisions.
abstract: We investigate uncertainty in estimates of pregnant women's exposure to ambient PM2.5 and benzene derived from central-site monitoring data. Through a study of live births in Florida during 2000-2009, we discuss the selection of spatial and temporal scales of analysis, limiting distances, and aggregation method. We estimate exposure concentrations and classify exposure for a range of alternatives, and compare impacts. Estimated exposure concentrations were most sensitive to the temporal scale of analysis for PM2.5, with similar sensitivity to spatial scale for benzene. Using 1-12 versus 3-8 weeks of gestational age as the exposure window resulted in reclassification of exposure by at least one quartile for up to 37% of mothers for PM2.5 and 27% for benzene. The largest mean absolute differences in concentration resulting from any decision were 0.78 µg/m(3) and 0.44 ppbC, respectively. No bias toward systematically higher or lower estimates was found between choices for any decision.
authors.affiliation: Birth Defects Surveillance Program, Department of Community and Family Health, University of South Florida, 13201 Bruce B. Downs Blvd. MDC 56, Tampa, FL 33612, USA. Electronic address: jtanner@health.usf.edu.
authors.forename: Jean Paul
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Tanner
authors.affiliation: Birth Defects Surveillance Program, Department of Community and Family Health, University of South Florida, 13201 Bruce B. Downs Blvd. MDC 56, Tampa, FL 33612, USA; Department of Family and Community Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, 3701 Kirby Dr. Suite 600, Houston, TX 77098, USA. Electronic address: jlsalemi@bcm.edu.
authors.forename: Jason L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Salemi
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, University of South Florida, 13201 Bruce B. Downs Blvd. MDC 56, Tampa, FL 33612, USA; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Avenue, Tampa, FL 33620, USA. Electronic address: als@usf.edu.
authors.forename: Amy L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Stuart
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, University of South Florida, 13201 Bruce B. Downs Blvd. MDC 56, Tampa, FL 33612, USA. Electronic address: haofei.yu@ce.gatech.edu.
authors.forename: Haofei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Bureau of Epidemiology, Division of Disease Control and Health Protection, Florida Department of Health, 4052 Bald Cypress Way, Tallahassee, FL 32399 USA. Electronic address: Melissa.Jordan@flhealth.gov.
authors.forename: Melissa M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Jordan
authors.affiliation: Bureau of Epidemiology, Division of Disease Control and Health Protection, Florida Department of Health, 4052 Bald Cypress Way, Tallahassee, FL 32399 USA. Electronic address: Chris.Duclos@flhealth.gov.
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: DuClos
authors.affiliation: Bureau of Epidemiology, Division of Disease Control and Health Protection, Florida Department of Health, 4052 Bald Cypress Way, Tallahassee, FL 32399 USA. Electronic address: Philip.Cavicchia@flhealth.gov.
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cavicchia
authors.affiliation: Bureau of Epidemiology, Division of Disease Control and Health Protection, Florida Department of Health, 4052 Bald Cypress Way, Tallahassee, FL 32399 USA. Electronic address: Jane.Correia@flhealth.gov.
authors.forename: Jane A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Correia
authors.affiliation: Bureau of Epidemiology, Division of Disease Control and Health Protection, Florida Department of Health, 4052 Bald Cypress Way, Tallahassee, FL 32399 USA. Electronic address: Sharon.Watkins@flhealth.gov.
authors.forename: Sharon M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Watkins
authors.affiliation: Birth Defects Surveillance Program, Department of Community and Family Health, University of South Florida, 13201 Bruce B. Downs Blvd. MDC 56, Tampa, FL 33612, USA. Electronic address: rkirby@health.usf.edu.
authors.forename: Russell S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Kirby
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001554:Benzene / Q000032:analysis*; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005431:Florida; D006801:Humans; D018811:Maternal Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000032:analysis*; D011247:Pregnancy; D035501:Uncertainty
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D052638:Particulate Matter; D001554:Benzene
keywords: Air pollution; Benzene; Birth defects; Particles