Higher Neonatal Blood Pressure in Association with Air Pollution Exposure during the Last Weeks of Pregnancy: an ENVIRONAGE birth cohort study

Abstract

TPS 742: Adverse birth outcomes 1, Exhibition Hall, Ground floor, August 27, 2019, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM Background: Elevated blood pressure (BP) in early life may lead to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in adulthood. Air pollution exposure has been associated with increased BP in adults and children. The contribution of in utero air pollution exposure, however, has been rarely assessed. We investigated the association between newborn BP and prenatal air pollution, traffic and land use indicators. Methods: We used data from 427 mother-newborn pairs from the ENVIRONAGE birth cohort. Daily maternal residential air pollutant exposures during pregnancy, including particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter ≤ 2.5 µm (PM2.5) and ≤ 10 µm (PM10), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and black carbon (BC), were modelled using a high-resolution spatial-temporal model. The association between newborn BP and air pollution during the last 15 weeks of pregnancy was assessed using distributed lag models. Results: Each 5 μg/m3 increment in prenatal PM2.5 exposure was associated with a 2.4 mm Hg (95%CI, 0.5 to 4.2) higher systolic and a 1.8 mm Hg (0.2 to 3.5) higher diastolic BP at birth. Overall (15-week) estimates for PM10 were similar but those for NO2 and BC did not reach significance. Associations between newborn BP and exposures during the last 4 to 5 weeks of pregnancy were significant for all pollutants. An IQR (20.3%) increment in percentage residential greenness in a 5 km radius was associated with a 1.2 mmHg (-2.5 to 0.1, p = 0.07) lower systolic and a 1.2 mm Hg (-2.4 to 0.0, p = 0.05) lower diastolic BP. An IQR (4.1%) increment in percentage industrial area in a 5 km radius was associated with a 1.0 mm Hg (0.1 to 2.0) higher diastolic BP. Residential traffic indicators (distance to major roads and distance-weighted traffic density) did not significantly associate with newborn BP. Conclusions: Prenatal air pollution exposure may induce BP elevations from birth onwards.