Modeling complex effects of exposure to particulate matter and extreme heat during pregnancy on congenital heart defects: A U.S. population-based case-control study in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study.

ABSTRACT:

Background/objective

Research suggests gestational exposure to particulate matter ≤2.5 μm (PM_2.5) and extreme heat may independently increase risk of birth defects. We investigated whether duration of gestational extreme heat exposure modifies associations between PM_2.5 exposure and specific congenital heart defects (CHDs). We also explored nonlinear exposure-outcome relationships.

Methods

We identified CHD case children (n = 2824) and non-malformed live-birth control children (n = 4033) from pregnancies ending between 1999 and 2007 in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study, a U.S. population-based multicenter case-control study. We assigned mothers 6-week averages of PM_2.5 exposure during the cardiac critical period (postconceptional we

SUBMITTER: Simmons W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8758551 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature