Estimation of outdoor NOx, NO2, and BTEX exposure in a cohort of pregnant women using land use regression modeling

Land use regression (LUR) has been successfully used to assess the intraurban variability of air pollution. In the INMA (Environment and Childhood) Study, ambient nitrogen oxides (NO, and NO2) and aromatic hydrocarbons (BTEX) were measured at 57 sampling sites in Sabadell (northeast Spain). Multiple regression models were developed to predict residential outdoor concentrations in a cohort of pregnant women (n=657), using geographic data as predictor variables. The models accounted for 68 and 69% of the variance in NO, and NO2 levels, respectively, with four predictor variables (altitude, land coverage, and two road length indicators). These percentages of explained variability could be further improved by replacing the two road length indicators with an ordinal indicator (road type). To our knowledge, this is the first study using LUR to assess the intraurban variability of BTEX in Europe, with a model including altitude and source proximity variables that explained 74% of the variance in BTEX levels. These models will be used to study the association between prenatal exposure to air pollution and adverse pregnancy outcomes and early childhhod effects in the cohort.