The unique opportunities and obstacles when integrating personal air pollution monitoring into studies of human fertility

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Exposure to air pollution has been associated with increased risk of infertility and pregnancy loss; however, the majority of research to date has relied on indirect measurements of air pollution which may have significant limitations due to the temporal and spatial variability of outdoor air pollution and the limited time that people spend outdoors. Directly measuring personal exposure to air pollution is a growing topic of interest, particularly in reproductive epidemiology, given the relatively short time windows of exposure susceptibility. METHODS: The Air Pollution, In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), and Reproductive Outcomes (AIR) Study recruited women undergoing a fresh, autogulous IVF cycle at the Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center. On the first day of ovarian stimulation, women were instructed to wear a personal particulate matter (PM) air pollution monitor (AirBeam2©), which measures three size fractions of particulate matter (PM1, PM2.5, and PM10), temperature, humidity, and GPS location, and complete a time-activity diary for the following 72-hour period. RESULTS:Between September 2018 and November 2019, 14 (out of 31 eligible) women enrolled in the AIR Study. The majority (71%) of women who did not enroll began ovarian stimulation on the weekend, when study staff were not regularly in clinic. 10 women successfully collected air pollution data for a median (minimum, maximum) of 41.5 (8.4, 64.5) hours during ovarian stimulation. The median (interquartile range) exposure to PM1, PM2.5, and PM10 was 0.7 (4.1), 2.1 (5.5), 3.2 (8.3) μg/m3, respectively. During this 72-hour window, women spent the majority of their time (72%) inside at home. Among the 4 women who were unsuccessful with the air monitors, limited battery life and frequent connection issues were cited as the main issues. CONCLUSIONS:Personal air pollution monitors can be utilized to characterize short-term exposure and, when applied appropriately, may greatly enhance our understanding of how air pollution affects human reproduction. KEYWORDS: air pollution, particulate matter, reproductive outcomes, short-term exposure, exposure assessment