Ambient air pollution and preterm birth: a time-series analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

An emerging body of evidence suggests that ambient levels of air pollution during pregnancy are associated with preterm birth.

Methods

To further investigate these relationships we used vital record data to construct a retrospective cohort of 476,489 births occurring between 1994 and 2004 in 5 central counties of metropolitan Atlanta. Using a time-series approach, we examined aggregated daily counts of preterm birth in relation to ambient levels of carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, ozone, particulate matter <10 microm in diameter (PM10), particulate matter <2.5 microm in diameter (PM2.5), and speciated PM measurements. Daily pollutant levels in 5-county Atlanta were characterized using a population-weighted spatial average of air quality monitors

SUBMITTER: Darrow LA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3780365 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature