Angel M Dzhambov1, Iana Markevych2, Peter Lercher3. 1. Department of Hygiene and Ecomedicine, Faculty of Public Health, Medical University of Plovdiv, Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Electronic address: angelleloti@gmail.com. 2. Institute and Clinic for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany; Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany; Division of Metabolic and Nutritional Medicine, Dr. von Hauner Children's Hospital, Munich, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Munich, Germany. 3. Institute for Highway Engineering and Transport Planning, Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria.
Abstract
Aim This explorative study aimed to investigate the association of residential greenness, traffic noise, and air pollution with birth outcomes in several Alpine areas with unique topography. METHODS: We used data from two cross-sectional studies (UIT, n = 573 and BBT, n = 518) in the Tyrol Region (Austria/Italy). Only mothers who had lived in their current residence during the whole pregnancy were included. They completed a questionnaire, and medical records were used to draw data on birth weight, low birth weight (LBW), preterm birth, and small for gestational age (SGA). Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) in the year of birth was assigned at the residential address as a measure of greenness. Road/railway traffic noise (Ldn) and air pollution (NO2) were calculated about 10 years after birth and used as surrogates for exposure levels during pregnancy. RESULTS: In the UIT survey, higher NDVI500-m was consistently associated with lower odds for LBW and SGA, while an increase of Ldn was associated with higher odds for LBW. Other effect estimates were in the expected direction albeit non-significant. In the BBT survey, most findings were inconclusive (for NDVI) or present only in subgroups (for Ldn and NO2). CONCLUSION: This study provides inconclusive evidence that the surrounding environment might be associated with birth outcomes in mountainous areas. Given the disparate associations across the study areas, further research in larger representative samples is warranted.
Aim This explorative study aimed to investigate the association of residential greenness, traffic noise, and air pollution with birth outcomes in several Alpine areas with unique topography. METHODS: We used data from two cross-sectional studies (UIT, n = 573 and BBT, n = 518) in the Tyrol Region (Austria/Italy). Only mothers who had lived in their current residence during the whole pregnancy were included. They completed a questionnaire, and medical records were used to draw data on birth weight, low birth weight (LBW), preterm birth, and small for gestational age (SGA). Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) in the year of birth was assigned at the residential address as a measure of greenness. Road/railway traffic noise (Ldn) and air pollution (NO2) were calculated about 10 years after birth and used as surrogates for exposure levels during pregnancy. RESULTS: In the UIT survey, higher NDVI500-m was consistently associated with lower odds for LBW and SGA, while an increase of Ldn was associated with higher odds for LBW. Other effect estimates were in the expected direction albeit non-significant. In the BBT survey, most findings were inconclusive (for NDVI) or present only in subgroups (for Ldn and NO2). CONCLUSION: This study provides inconclusive evidence that the surrounding environment might be associated with birth outcomes in mountainous areas. Given the disparate associations across the study areas, further research in larger representative samples is warranted.
Authors: Yi Sun; Paige Sheridan; Olivier Laurent; Jia Li; David A Sacks; Heidi Fischer; Yang Qiu; Yu Jiang; Ilona S Yim; Luo-Hua Jiang; John Molitor; Jiu-Chiuan Chen; Tarik Benmarhnia; Jean M Lawrence; Jun Wu Journal: Environ Int Date: 2020-06-05 Impact factor: 9.621
Authors: Selin Akaraci; Xiaoqi Feng; Thomas Suesse; Bin Jalaludin; Thomas Astell-Burt Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2020-04-24 Impact factor: 3.390
Authors: Yijun Zhang; Suzanne Mavoa; Jinfeng Zhao; Deborah Raphael; Melody Smith Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2020-09-11 Impact factor: 3.390