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Air Pollution Exposure and Abnormal Glucose Tolerance during Pregnancy: The Project Viva Cohort
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Air Pollution Exposure and Abnormal Glucose Tolerance during Pregnancy: The Project Viva Cohort

Abby F. Fleisch, Diane R. Gold, Sheryl L. Rifas-Shiman, Petros Koutrakis, Joel D. Schwartz, Itai Kloog, Steven Melly, Brent A. Coull, Antonella Zanobetti, Matthew W. Gillman, …
Environmental health perspectives, v 122(4), pp 378-383
01 Apr 2014
PMID: 24508979
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
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https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1307065View
Published, Version of Record (VoR)access removed by US government, 1 Dec 2025 Restricted

Abstract

Environmental Sciences Environmental Sciences & Ecology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Public, Environmental & Occupational Health Science & Technology Toxicology
BACKGROUND: Exposure to fine particulate matter (PM with diameter <= 2.5 mu m; PM2.5) has been linked to type 2 diabetes mellitus, but associations with hyperglycemia in pregnancy have not been well studied. METHODS: We studied Boston, Massachusetts-area pregnant women without known diabetes. We identified impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) during pregnancy from clinical glucose tolerance tests at median 28.1 weeks gestation. We used residential addresses to estimate second-trimester PM2.5 and black carbon exposure via a central monitoring site and spatiotemporal models. We estimated residential traffic density and roadway proximity as surrogates for exposure to traffic-related air pollution. We performed multinomial logistic regression analyses adjusted for sociodemographic covariates, and used multiple imputation to account for missing data. RESULTS: Of 2,093 women, 65 (3%) had IGT and 118 (6%) had GDM. Second-trimester spatiotemporal exposures ranged from 8.5 to 15.9 mu g/m(3) for PM2.5 and from 0.1 to 1.7 mu g/m(3) for black carbon. Traffic density was 0-30,860 vehicles/day x length of road (kilometers) within 100 m; 281 (13%) women lived <= 200 m from a major road. The prevalence of IGT was elevated in the highest (vs. lowest) quartile of exposure to spatiotemporal PM2.5 [odds ratio (OR) = 2.63; 95% CI: 1.15, 6.01] and traffic density (OR = 2.66; 95% CI: 1.24, 5.71). IGT also was positively associated with other exposure measures, although associations were not statistically significant. No pollutant exposures were positively associated with GDM. CONCLUSIONS: Greater exposure to PM2.5 and other traffic-related pollutants during pregnancy was associated with IGT but not GDM. Air pollution may contribute to abnormal glycemia in pregnancy.

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#3 Good Health and Well-Being
#11 Sustainable Cities and Communities

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
International collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Environmental Sciences
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Toxicology
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