The possible association between exposure to air pollution and the risk for congenital malformations

Does maternal exposure to benzene and PM 10 during pregnancy increase the risk of congenital anomalies? A population-based case–control study

“…The involvement of particulate matter emerged only for its average outdoor values and not for its maximum levels, suggesting that time-integrated long-term exposure is more plausibly associated with disease risk compared with higher but more transient values. Our results are consistent with other studies which found direct associations between PM 10 exposure and the risk of birth defects (Kim et al, 2007; Farhi et al, 2014; Liang et al, 2014), though others found little evidence of such an association (van den Hooven et al, 2009; Gianicolo et al, 2014). The increased risk for overall birth defects in relation to PM 10 exposure in our study was mainly driven by an association with musculoskeletal anomalies and with chromosomal defects, with the former group showing a clear and strong dose-response relation across categories of exposure.…”

“…During the last few years, a growing number of epidemiologic studies has addressed the possible teratogenic role of maternal exposure to ambient pollution from vehicular traffic and other sources, and such an association is supported by biological plausibility taking into account the toxic effects of the contaminants and their mixtures released by motorized sources (Farhi et al, 2014; Gianicolo et al, 2014; Liang et al, 2014; Lin et al, 2014; Schembari et al, 2014; Tanner et al, 2015; Vinikoor-Imler et al, 2015). Some epidemiologic investigations have found an increased risk of some categories of congenital anomalies or specific defects in the offspring of mothers exposed to high levels of air pollution, but not all studies are consistent and only some of the contaminants have been linked to excess prevalence at birth of malformations (Vrijheid et al, 2011; Chen et al, 2014).…”

A case study using remote sensing data to compare biophysical properties of a forest and an urban area in Northern Alabama, USA

“…These air pollutants can be detrimental to human health (Pope et al, 2002;Samoli et al, 2005). Children, the elderly, and people with impaired respiratory systems (e.g., asthmatics) tend to be especially sensitive to high concentrations of nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, and particulate matter (Farhi et al, 2014;Samoli et al, 2005). These results support the hypothesis that the overall air quality in the forest is better than in the urban area.…”

Maternal Exposure to Nitrogen Dioxide, Intake of Methyl Nutrients, and Congenital Heart Defects in Offspring

“…Research on the relationship between exposure to traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) during pregnancy and congenital heart defects (CHDs) in offspring has been inconsistent (1–10). Two recent meta-analyses observed significant associations between nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) levels, a marker of TRAP, and coarctation of the aorta (COA) (11, 12).…”

“…Two recent meta-analyses observed significant associations between nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) levels, a marker of TRAP, and coarctation of the aorta (COA) (11, 12). Subsequent studies have reported associations between NO 2 exposure and COA as well as pulmonary valve stenosis (9) and an association between nitrogen oxides and ventricular septal defects (10). One of the potential biological pathways through which maternal TRAP exposure could affect cardiogenesis is by the induction of epigenetic changes, including alterations in DNA methylation (13, 14).…”