Does Particulate Air Pollution Contribute to Infant Death? A Systematic Review

Abstract

There is now substantial evidence that both short- and long-term increases in ambient air pollution are associated with increased mortality and morbidity in adults and children. Children’s health is particularly vulnerable to environmental pollution, and infant mortality is still a major contributor to childhood mortality. In this systematic review we summarize and evaluate the current level of epidemiologic evidence of an association between particulate air pollution and infant mortality. We identified relevant publications using database searches with a comprehensive list of search terms and other established search methods. We included articles in the review according to specified inclusion criteria. Fifteen studies met our inclusion criteria. Evidence of an association between particulate air pollution and infant mortality in general was inconsistent, being reported from locations with largely comparable pollution levels. There was some evidence that the strength of association with particulate matter differed by subgroups of infant mortality. It was more consistent for post-neonatal mortality due to respiratory causes and sudden infant death syndrome. Differential findings for various mortality subgroups within studies suggest a stronger association of particulate air pollution with some causes of infant death. Research is needed to confirm and clarify these links, using the most appropriate methodologies for exposure assessment and control of confounders.

Estimating the global abundance of ground level presence of particulate matter (PM2.5)

“…In recent years, researchers are finding it worthy to investigate potential links between PM 2.5 exposure and adverse birth outcomes (Slama et al, 2008;Dadvand et al, 2013), epigenetic alteration (Baccarelli et al, 2008;Salam et al, 2012;Byun et al, 2013;Hou et al, 2013) infant mortality (Woodruff et al, 1997;Lipfert et al, 2000;Dales et al, 2004;Glinianaia et al, 2004) atherosclerosis (Araujo et al, 2008;Araujo, 2011;Kaufman, 2011), stroke (Brook, 2008;Brook andRajagopalan, 2009, 2012;Maheswaran et al, 2010Maheswaran et al, , 2012, rheumatic autoimmune disease (Zeft et Table 1. Particulate matter and health outcomes for PM 10 , PM 2.5 and ultrafine particles (UFPs).…”

Expressing urine from a gel disposable diaper for biomonitoring using phthalates as an example

“…A relationship between ambient air pollution and daily mortality and morbidity rates has been reported for many cities throughout the world (Schwela, 2000;Stieb et al, 2002;Glinianaia et al, 2004;Gordon et al, 2004). The relevant contaminants include sulfur dioxide, suspended particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, ozone, and lead (Schwela, 2000).…”

“…due to poor maternal malnutrition) increases risk of coronary heart disease in adulthood (Lau & Rogers, 2005) Decreased cell-mediated immunity in males following perinatal exposure of rats to methoxychlor (Chapin et al, 1997) and heptachlor (Smialowicz et al, 2001;Smialowicz, 2002) Lead exposure reduces Th1 immune capability, causing a shift towards increased Th2 responses in rats Dietert & Lee, 2005) Altered airway growth with increased collagen deposition in airway walls with exposure to maternal smoking (Sekhon et al, 2001) Altered control of breathing with diminished hypoxic response postnatally with maternal smoking in utero (Ueda et al, 1999) Inorganic arsenic in drinking-water caused adrenal tumours in male offspring and ovarian and lung tumours in female offspring as adults (Waalkes et al, 2003) (Glinianaia et al, 2004) Child Leukaemia in children due to radiation from atomic bomb (IARC, 2000) Ionizing radiation and leukaemia in childhood and adulthood (Chow et al, 1996;Ron et al, 1988a) Radioisotopes of iodine from Chernobyl disaster and thyroid carcinoma (Pacini et al, 1997) Adolescent Exacerbation of preexisting asthma from exposure to particulates in the air (Parnia et al, 2002) Chronic ozone exposure decreases lung function (Kunzli et al, 1997) Breast cancer in adulthood with high-dose ionizing radiation (Boice et al, 1996) ACE, angiotensin converting enzyme; AGD, anogenital distance; DES, diethylstilbestrol; IUGR, intrauterine growth restriction; PBBs, polybrominated biphenyls; PCBs, polychlorinated biphenyls; T3, triiodothyronine; T4, thyroxine; TCDD, tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin; Th1 development; however, where there was good supporting evidence from animal models or where particular...…”

“…Several studies have investigated the impact of air pollution on neonatal (birth to 28 days) and infant (28 days to one year) mortality (Bobak & Leon, 1999a;Dejmek et al, 2000;Glinianaia et al, 2004). While exposure to particulate air pollution is not consistently associated with increased neonatal or infant mortality in general, it is associated with increased mortality from respiratory causes, such as pneumonia and sudden infant death syndrome (Glinianaia et al, 2004). There is also sufficient evidence for a causal relationship between exposure to ETS and sudden infant death syndrome (Anderson & Cook, 1997), with the risk of death from sudden infant death syndrome increased by up to 150% by exposure to both pre-and postnatal ETS (NHMRC, 1997).…”

The Toxicity of Diesel Exhaust: Implications for Primary Care

“…[63][64][65][66] DEPs caused a significant decrease in adult sperm production and a diminished number of Sertoli cells in an animal model. 67 Other studies have shown aberration of sex hormone production and effect in chronically exposed female rats, with increased levels of testosterone and subsequent masculinization.…”