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Impact of London's road traffic air and noise pollution on birth weight: retrospective population based cohort study.

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posted on 2019-08-20, 14:31 authored by RB Smith, D Fecht, J Gulliver, SD Beevers, D Dajnak, M Blangiardo, RE Ghosh, AL Hansell, FJ Kelly, HR Anderson, MB Toledano
Objective To investigate the relation between exposure to both air and noise pollution from road traffic and birth weight outcomes.Design Retrospective population based cohort study.Setting Greater London and surrounding counties up to the M25 motorway (2317 km2), UK, from 2006 to 2010.Participants 540 365 singleton term live births.Main outcome measures Term low birth weight (LBW), small for gestational age (SGA) at term, and term birth weight.Results Average air pollutant exposures across pregnancy were 41 μg/m3 nitrogen dioxide (NO2), 73 μg/m3 nitrogen oxides (NOx), 14 μg/m3 particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter <2.5 μm (PM2.5), 23 μg/m3 particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter <10 μm (PM10), and 32 μg/m3 ozone (O3). Average daytime (LAeq,16hr) and night-time (Lnight) road traffic A-weighted noise levels were 58 dB and 53 dB respectively. Interquartile range increases in NO2, NOx, PM2.5, PM10, and source specific PM2.5 from traffic exhaust (PM2.5 traffic exhaust) and traffic non-exhaust (brake or tyre wear and resuspension) (PM2.5 traffic non-exhaust) were associated with 2% to 6% increased odds of term LBW, and 1% to 3% increased odds of term SGA. Air pollutant associations were robust to adjustment for road traffic noise. Trends of decreasing birth weight across increasing road traffic noise categories were observed, but were strongly attenuated when adjusted for primary traffic related air pollutants. Only PM2.5 traffic exhaust and PM2.5 were consistently associated with increased risk of term LBW after adjustment for each of the other air pollutants. It was estimated that 3% of term LBW cases in London are directly attributable to residential exposure to PM2.5>13.8 μg/m3during pregnancy.Conclusions The findings suggest that air pollution from road traffic in London is adversely affecting fetal growth. The results suggest little evidence for an independent exposure-response effect of traffic related noise on birth weight outcomes.

Funding

This work was funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council, Medical Research Council (MRC), Economic and Social Research Council, Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and Department of Health (DH) (NE/I00789X/1, NE/I008039/1) through the cross research council Environmental Exposures & Health Initiative. The research was part funded by the National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit (NIHR HPRU) in Health Impact of Environmental Hazards at King’s College London in partnership with Public Health England (PHE). The work of the UK SAHSU is funded by PHE as part of the MRC-PHE Centre for Environment and Health, funded also by the UK MRC (MR/L01341X/1). The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR, PHE, or DH. The funders had no role in the study design; collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; writing of the report; or decision to submit the article for publication.

History

Citation

BMJ 2017;359:j5299

Author affiliation

/Organisation/COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING/School of Geography, Geology and the Environment

Version

  • VoR (Version of Record)

Published in

BMJ 2017;359:j5299

Publisher

BMJ Publishing Group

eissn

1756-1833

Acceptance date

2017-11-01

Copyright date

2017

Available date

2019-08-20

Publisher version

https://www.bmj.com/content/359/bmj.j5299

Language

en