Birth outcomes and maternal residential proximity to natural gas development in rural Colorado.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Birth defects are a leading cause of neonatal mortality. Natural gas development (NGD) emits several potential teratogens, and U.S. production of natural gas is expanding.

Objectives

We examined associations between maternal residential proximity to NGD and birth outcomes in a retrospective cohort study of 124,842 births between 1996 and 2009 in rural Colorado.

Methods

We calculated inverse distance weighted natural gas well counts within a 10-mile radius of maternal residence to estimate maternal exposure to NGD. Logistic regression, adjusted for maternal and infant covariates, was used to estimate associations with exposure tertiles for congenital heart defects (CHDs), neural tube defects (NTDs), oral clefts, preterm birth, and term low birth weight. The

SUBMITTER: McKenzie LM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3984231 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature