Weekly-specific ambient fine particular matter exposures before and during pregnancy were associated with risks of small for gestational age and large for gestational age: results from Project ELEFANT

Background Investigations on the potential effects of ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) on large for gestational age (LGA) are limited. Furthermore, no study has explored weekly-specific susceptible exposure windows for small for gestational age (SGA) and LGA. This study evaluated the associations of exposure to ambient PM2.5 over the preconception and entire-pregnancy periods with risks of SGA and LGA, as well as explored critical weekly-specific exposure windows. Methods 10 916 singleton pregnant women with 24-42 completed gestational weeks from the Project Environmental and LifEstyle FActors iN metabolic health throughout life-course Trajectories between 2014 and 2016 were included in this study. Distributed lag models (DLMs) incorporated in Cox proportional-hazards models were applied to explore the associations of maternal exposure to weekly ambient PM2.5 throughout 12 weeks before pregnancy and pregnancy periods with risks of SGA and LGA after controlling for potential confounders. Results For a 10-mu g/m(3) increase in maternal exposure to PM2.5, positive associations with SGA were observed during the 1(st) to 9(th) preconceptional weeks and the 1(st) to 2(nd) gestational weeks (P<0.05), with the strongest association in the 5(th) preconceptional week [hazard ratio (HR), 1.06; 95% confidential interval (CI), 1.03-1.09]. For LGA, positive associations were observed during the 1(st) to 12(th) preconceptional weeks and the 1(st) to 5(th) gestational weeks (P<0.05), with the strongest association in the 7(th) preconceptional week (HR, 1.10; 95% CI, 1.08-1.12). Conclusions Exposure to high-level ambient PM2.5 is associated with increased risks of both SGA and LGA, and the most susceptible exposure windows are the preconception and early-pregnancy periods.

Automated summary

This study found that exposure to high-level ambient PM2.5 is associated with increased risks of both small and large for gestational age (SGA and LGA), with the most susceptible exposure windows being the preconception and early-pregnancy periods.