Thursday, April 28, 2011

Proximity to Traffic Air Pollution and Birth Outcomes

Increased traffic exposure and negative birth outcomes: a prospective cohort in Australia (24 page pdf, Adrian G Barnett, Kathryn Plonka, W. Kim Seow, Lee-Ann Wilson and Craig Hansen, Environmental Health, Apr. 1, 2011)

Also discussed here: Early births linked to highway proximity (Sydney Morning Herald, Apr. 4, 2011)

Today’s focus is on a paper that assessed the impact of the proximity of pregnant women to traffic with the birth weight of their children. The paper concluded a clear association up to 400 m from busy roads and speculated that one cause might be the impact of particulate matter on the growing fetus.



Key Quotes:

"The most striking result was the reduction in gestation time of 4.4 per cent - or almost two weeks - associated with an increase in freeways within 400 metres of the women's home"

“the negative effects of traffic on gestation were largely associated with main roads within 400 metres of the home, with much of the effect for roads within 200 metres”

“the public health implications are large because exposure to some level of air pollution is ubiquitous in urban areas, and pre-term and low weight babies: stay in hospital longer after birth, have an increased risk of death, and are more likely to develop disabilities”

"Pre-term and low-birth weight babies stay in hospital longer after birth, have an increased risk of death and are more likely to develop disabilities."

"We examined the distance between the home and busy roads to find the distance at which most of the negative effects on birth outcomes occurred because this has implications for local governments planning expansions or new roads,"

"Vehicles braking and starting means that road junctions have some of the highest levels of noise and air pollution"
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