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AIR POLLUTION AND RISK FOR PRETERM BIRTH IN PENNSYLVANIA, 1997-2001: A TIME SERIES APPROACH
Citation:
Sagiv, S., P Mendola, D. Loomis, A. H. Herring, L M. Neas, D. A. Savitz, AND C. Poole. AIR POLLUTION AND RISK FOR PRETERM BIRTH IN PENNSYLVANIA, 1997-2001: A TIME SERIES APPROACH. Presented at Society for Epidemiologic Research, Salt Lake City, Utah, June 15-18, 2004.
Description:
Preterm delivery can lead to serious infant health outcomes including death and life-long disability. Small increases in preterm delivery risk in relation to air pollution have been reported, but prior investigations may have inadequately controlled for individual factors, such as smoking. We conducted a time-series analysis, which eliminates confounding by individual factors, to investigate the effect of ambient outdoor particulate matter with diameter of 10 micrometers (PM10) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) on risk for preterm delivery. Daily counts of preterm births were obtained from birth records in four Pennsylvania counties between 1997 and 2001. PM10 and SO2 levels were averaged over a six-week window directly preceding birth. Full, adjusted models controlled for long-term seasonal trends, co-pollutants (nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, PM10, SO2), and were offset by the number of live births in the population. County-level information was incorporated using a mixed model with a random intercept. Of 187,997 singleton births, 21,450 (11.4%) were born preterm. In full, adjusted models, we observed approximately 1 excess preterm birth for every 100 births exposed to a 50 g/m3 increase in PM10 (Risk Ratio=1.09; 95% CI: 1.01,1.19) and 2 excess preterm births for every 100 births exposed to a 15 parts per billion (ppb) SO2 increase (RR=1.20%, 95% CI: 1.04,1.39). While the absolute increases in risk observed here are small, they may have important public health impact due to the high prevalence of preterm birth.
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