Ambient air pollution and birth outcomes : Insights on exposure determinants and new outcomes

Recent epidemiological evidence on effect of air pollution and pregnancy outcomes is inconsistent. Differences in study design, sample size, population characteristics, control for confounders, air pollution measurements and exposure assessment techniques as well as the lack of knowledge on the exac...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Schembari, Anna
Tipo de recurso: tesis doctoral
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2014
País:España
Institución:CBUC, CESCA
Repositorio:TDR. Tesis Doctorales en Red
OAI Identifier:oai:www.tdx.cat:10803/382485
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10803/382485
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Air pollution
Pregnancy
Congenital anomalies
Birth weight
Ethnicity
Contaminació de l'aire
Embaràs
Anomalies congènites
Pes de naixement
Ètnia
614
Descripción
Sumario:Recent epidemiological evidence on effect of air pollution and pregnancy outcomes is inconsistent. Differences in study design, sample size, population characteristics, control for confounders, air pollution measurements and exposure assessment techniques as well as the lack of knowledge on the exact biological mechanism are likely to contribute to the observed heterogeneity. The aim of this project was to better understand the personal exposure determinants and to use refined exposure assessment techniques such as Land Use Regression (LUR) models to assess the impact of air pollution on birth outcomes. Moreover to encompass outcomes that might help in the identification of possible biological mechanisms of the effect of air pollution on fetus development. Ventilation of the house by opening the windows, the time spent cooking and indicators for traffic intensity were re-occurring statistically significant determinants of the personal and indoor pollutants levels. In our studies of air pollution and birth outcomes we were able to identify congenital anomalies groups not systematically studied before and we were the first to include indicators of fat mass at birth. Air pollutants, estimates using LUR, were associated to increased risk of some congenital anomalies of the hearth and with impaired fetal growth.