Racial Disparities in Maternal Exposure to Ambient Air Pollution During Pregnancy and Prevalence of Congenital Heart Defects.

Details

• Alternative Title:
  American Journal of Epidemiology, 2025, v. 194, no. 3: Racial Disparities in Maternal Exposure to Ambient Air Pollution During Pregnancy and Prevalence of Congenital Heart Defects.
• Journal Article:
  American Journal of Epidemiology
• Personal Author:
  Arogbokun Knutson, Olufunmilayo C. ; Luben, Thomas J. ; Stingone, Jeanette A. ; Engel, Lawrence S. ; Martin, Chantel L. ; Olshan, Andrew F.
• Description:
  Air pollution may be a potential cause of congenital heart defects (CHDs), but racial disparities in this association are unexplored. We conducted a statewide population-based cohort study using North Carolina birth data from 2003 to 2015 (n = 1 225 285) to investigate the relationship between air pollution and CHDs (specifically pulmonary valve atresia/stenosis, tetralogy of Fallot TOF, and atrioventricular septal defect AVSD). Maternal exposure to particulate matter ≤ 2.5 μm in diameter (PM2.5) and ozone during weeks 3 to 9 of pregnancy were estimated using the Environmental Protection Agency's Downscaler Model. Single- and co-pollutant log-binomial models were created for the entire population and stratified by race to investigate disparities. Positive associations between PM2.5 and CHDs were observed. An increasing concentration-response association was found for PM2.5 and TOF in adjusted, co-pollutant models (quartile 4 prevalence ratio: 1.46; 95% CI, 1.06-2.03). Differences in the effect of PM2.5 on CHD prevalence were seen in some models stratified by race, although clear exposure-prevalence gradients were not evident. Positive associations were also seen in adjusted, co-pollutant models of ozone and AVSD. Study results suggest that prenatal PM2.5 and ozone exposure may increase the prevalence of certain CHDs. A consistent pattern of differences in association by race/ethnicity was not apparent. This article is part of a Special Collection on Environmental Epidemiology.
• Content Notes:
  Author manuscript
• Subjects:
  • Adult
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Pregnancy
  • Young Adult
  • Air Pollutants
  • Air Pollution
  • Health Status Disparities
  • Heart Defects, Congenital
  • Maternal Exposure
  More +
• Keywords:
  • congenital heart defects
  • air pollution
  • pregnancy
  • racial disparities
  • birth defects
• Source:
  American Journal of Epidemiology, 2025, v. 194, no. 3
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwae253
• ISSN:
  0002-9262 ; 1476-6256
• Pubmed ID:
  39108168
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC11955996
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  EPA999999/ImEPA/Intramural EPAUnited States/ ; U50CCU422096/CC/CDC HHSUnited States/ ; Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation/
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  North Carolina
• Pages in Document:
  709-721 (26 pdf pages)
• Volume:
  194
• Issue:
  3
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/262060/cdc_262060_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 266.76 KB]
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:799b0655d3c0af0615dd6343198b898216c076998837c3bf0de90d12d3f53f902795dfc9ef13c8f5017d23eef727658bf4160de89d3254a605041e80f9a862da