Advertisement

Environmental Science and Pollution Research

, Volume 24, Issue 22, pp 17976–17984 | Cite as

Different exposure levels of fine particulate matter and preterm birth: a meta-analysis based on cohort studies

  • Chenchen Liu
  • Jiantao Sun
  • Yuewei Liu
  • Hui Liang
  • Minsheng Wang
  • Chunhong WangEmail author
  • Tingming ShiEmail author
Review Article
First Online:

Abstract

The previous studies estimated the association between PM2.5 (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter less than or equal to 2.5 μm) exposure during pregnancy and preterm birth, only considered and highlighted the hazard effects of high levels of air pollutant exposure, and underestimated that low levels of pollutant exposure might also affect pregnancy outcome. We conducted a meta-analysis of 11 cohort studies, a total of more than 1,500,000 subjects. The results of these studies were pooled by exposure levels and study periods. PM2.5 exposure during pregnancy was positively associated with preterm birth (OR = 1.15, 95% CI = 1.07–1.23), and during the first trimester of pregnancy, low levels of PM2.5 exposure were also positively associated with preterm birth (OR = 1.17, 95% CI = 1.04–1.30). It is important to protect pregnant women from PM2.5 exposures, especially during their first trimester of pregnancy even when the ambient PM2.5 concentration is relatively low. More relevant health policy should be carried out to prevent hazard effect of air pollutants.

Keywords

Exposure levels Fine particulate matter Preterm birth Cohort study Meta-analysis 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Notes

Compliance with ethical standards

Funding

The study was funded by the Hubei Province Health and Family Planning Scientific Research Project (WJ2015MA027) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 91543207).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

References

  1. Bosetti C, Nieuwenhuijsen MJ et al (2010) Ambient particulate matter and preterm birth or birth weight: a review of the literature. Arch Toxicol 84(6):447–460Google Scholar
  2. Brauer M, Lencar C et al (2008) A cohort study of traffic-related air pollution impacts on birth outcomes. Environ Health Perspect 116(5):680–686CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  3. Cha J, Bartos A et al (2013) Combinatory approaches prevent preterm birth profoundly exacerbated by gene-environment interactions. J Clin Investig 123(9):4063–4075CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. Chen Y, Mi BB et al (2016) Prenatal exposure to outdoor air pollution and preterm birth: a Meta-analysis. Chin J Epidemiol 37(6):880–885Google Scholar
  5. Cormier SA, Ye X et al (2016) Acute effects of particulate air pollution on the incidence of coronary heart disease in Shanghai, China. PLoS One 11(3):e0151119CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. DeFranco E, Moravec W et al (2016) Exposure to airborne particulate matter during pregnancy is associated with preterm birth: a population-based cohort study. Environ Health 15(1)Google Scholar
  7. DerSimonian R, Laird N (2015) Meta-analysis in clinical trials revisited. Contemp Clin Trials 45:139–145Google Scholar
  8. DeVries R, Kriebel D et al (2016) Low level air pollution and exacerbation of existing COPD: a case crossover analysis. Environ Health 15(1)Google Scholar
  9. Fleischer NL, Merialdi M et al (2014) Outdoor air pollution, preterm birth, and low birth weight: analysis of the World Health Organization global survey on maternal and perinatal health. Environ Health Perspect 122(4):425–151Google Scholar
  10. Gehring U, Wijga AH et al (2011) Traffic-related air pollution, preterm birth and term birth weight in the PIAMA birth cohort study. Environ Res 111(1):125–135CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  11. Gent JF, Triche EW et al (2003) Association of low-level ozone and fine particles with respiratory symptoms in children with asthma. JAMA 290(14):1859–1867CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  12. GK S (2012) Preterm birth, a known risk factor for infant and childhood death, is an independent risk factor for mortality in early childhood and young adulthood. Evid Based Med 17:121–122CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  13. Glinianaia SV, Rankin J et al (2004) Particulate air pollution and fetal health. Epidemiology 15(1):36–45CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  14. Ha S, Hu H et al (2014) The effects of air pollution on adverse birth outcomes. Environ Res 134:198–204CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  15. Hannam K, McNamee R et al (2014) Air pollution exposure and adverse pregnancy outcomes in a large UK birth cohort: use of a novel spatio-temporal modelling technique. Scand J Work Environ Health 40(5):518–530CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  16. Hatala R (2005) Tips for learners of evidence-based medicine: 4. Assessing heterogeneity of primary studies in systematic reviews and whether to combine their results. Can Med Assoc J 172(5):661–665CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  17. Heo J, Schauer JJ et al (2014) Fine particle air pollution and mortality. Epidemiology 25(3):379–388CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. Huttunen K, Siponen T et al (2012) Low-level exposure to ambient particulate matter is associated with systemic inflammation in ischemic heart disease patients. Environ Res 116:44–51CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  19. Jalaludin B, Mannes T et al (2007) Impact of ambient air pollution on gestational age is modified by season in Sydney, Australia. Environ Health 6(1)Google Scholar
  20. Jedrychowski W, Bendkowska I et al (2004) Estimated risk for altered fetal growth resulting from exposure to fine particles during pregnancy: an epidemiologic prospective cohort study in Poland. Environ Health Perspect 112(14):1398–1402CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  21. Jedrychowski W, Perera F et al (2009) Gender differences in fetal growth of newborns exposed prenatally to airborne fine particulate matter. Environ Res 109(4):447–456CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  22. Kannan S, Misra DP, Dvonch JT, Krishnakumar P et al (2006) Exposures to airborne particulate matter and adverse perinatal outcomes: a biologically plausible mechanistic framework for exploring potential effect modification by nutrition. Environ Health Perspect 114(11):1636–1642Google Scholar
  23. Lamichhane DK, Leem J-H et al (2015) A meta-analysis of exposure to particulate matter and adverse birth outcomes. Environ Health Toxicol 30:e2015011CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  24. Lee P-C, Roberts JM et al (2012) First trimester exposure to ambient air pollution, pregnancy complications and adverse birth outcomes in Allegheny County, PA. Matern Child Health J 17(3):545–555CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  25. Liu J-P (2008) Design, implementation and methodological issues in cohort study. J Chin Integr Med 6(4):331–336CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  26. Maisonet M, Correa A et al (2004) A review of the literature on the effects of ambient air pollution on fetal growth. Environ Res 95(1):106–115CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  27. Matte T, Clougherty JE et al (2016) Ambient fine particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, and preterm birth in New York City. Environ Health Perspect 124(8)Google Scholar
  28. Nieuwenhuijsen MJ, Dadvand P, Grellier J, Martinez D, Vrijheid M (2013) Environmental risk factors of pregnancy outcomes: a summary of recent meta-analyses of epidemiological studies. Environ Health 12(6)Google Scholar
  29. Pereira G, Belanger K et al (2013) Fine particulate matter and risk of preterm birth in Connecticut in 2000-2006: a longitudinal study. Am J Epidemiol 179(1):67–74CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  30. Pereira G, Bell ML et al (2014) Fine particulate matter and risk of preterm birth and pre-labor rupture of membranes in Perth, Western Australia 1997–2007: a longitudinal study. Environ Int 73:143–149CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  31. Pereira G, Evans KA et al (2016) Fine particulates, preterm birth, and membrane rupture in Rochester, NY. Epidemiology 27(1):66–73CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  32. Poirier A, Dodds L et al (2015) Maternal exposure to air pollution and adverse birth outcomes in Halifax, Nova Scotia. J Occup Environ Med 57(12):1291–1298CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  33. Qian Z-M, Liang S-W et al (2016a) Ambient air pollution and preterm birth: a prospective birth cohort study in Wuhan, China. Int J Hyg Environ Health 219(2):195–203CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  34. Qian N-S, Yu H-T et al (2016b) Association between maternal air pollution exposure during first trimester and birth weight in Shanghai. J Occup Environ Med 33(9):827–832Google Scholar
  35. Ritz B, Wilhelm M et al (2007) Ambient air pollution and preterm birth in the environment and pregnancy outcomes study at the University of California, Los Angeles. Am J Epidemiol 166(9):1045–1052CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  36. Romero R, Dey SK et al (2014a) Preterm labor: one syndrome, many causes. Science 345(6198):760–765CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  37. Romero R, Miranda J et al (2014b) Prevalence and clinical significance of sterile intra-amniotic inflammation in patients with preterm labor and intact membranes. Am J Reprod Immunol 72(5):458–474CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  38. Sapkota A, Chelikowsky AP et al (2010) Exposure to particulate matter and adverse birth outcomes: a comprehensive review and meta-analysis. Air Qual Atmos Health 5(4):369–381CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  39. Shi L, Zanobetti A, Kloog I, Coull BA, Koutrakis P et al (2015) Low-Concentration PM2.5 and Mortality: Estimating Acute and Chronic Effects in a Population-Based Study. Environ Health Perspect 124(1):46–52Google Scholar
  40. Šrám RJ, Binková B et al (2005) Ambient air pollution and pregnancy outcomes: a review of the literature. Environ Health Perspect 113(4):375–382CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  41. Stieb DM, Chen L, Eshoul M, Judek S (2012) Ambient air pollution, birth weight and preterm birth: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Environ Res 117:100–111CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  42. Stroup DF (2000) Meta-analysis of observational studies in epidemiology: a proposal for reporting. JAMA 283(15):2008CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  43. Sun X-L, Luo X-P et al (2015) The association between fine particulate matter exposure during pregnancy and preterm birth: a meta-analysis. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth 15(1)Google Scholar
  44. Wang J-J, Zhao A-L et al (2009) Impact of air pollution on low birth weight and preterm birth: a meta-analysis. J Environ Health 26(9):795–798Google Scholar
  45. Wegorzewska M, Nijagal A et al (2014) Fetal intervention increases maternal T cell awareness of the foreign conceptus and can lead to immune-mediated fetal demise. J Immunol 192(4):1938–1945CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  46. Laurent O, Hu J, Li L, Kleeman MJ, Bartell SM et al (2016) A Statewide Nested Case–Control Study of Preterm Birth and Air Pollution by Source and Composition: California, 2001–2008. Environ Health Perspect 124(9):1479–1486Google Scholar
  47. Xu D-Z (2008) Research design of clinical medicine research. Chin J Pract Pediatr 23(3):237–240Google Scholar
  48. Zeng X-T, Liu H et al (2012) Meta-analysis: quality assessment tools of observational study. Chin J Evid Based Cardiovasc Med 4(4):297–299Google Scholar
  49. Zhang L, Zhang Y et al (2015) Characteristics of atmospheric PM2.5 and the variation of PAHs in PM2.5 during spring in Hongshan district, Wuhan. China Environ Sci 35(8):2319–2325Google Scholar
  50. Zhu X-X, Liu Y et al (2014) Maternal exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and pregnancy outcomes: a meta-analysis. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22(5):3383–3396CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2017

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.School of Health SciencesWuhan UniversityWuhanChina
  2. 2.Hubei Provincial Center for Disease Control and PreventionWuhanChina
  3. 3.Medical Research Center for Structural Biology, School of Basic Medical SciencesWuhan UniversityWuhanChina

Personalised recommendations

Cite article

Buy options