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The joint effects of prenatal exposure to PM2.5 constituents and reduced fetal growth on children’s accelerated growth in the first 3 years: a birth cohort study

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology (2024)Cite this article

Abstract

Background

Prenatal fine particulate matter (PM2.5) constituents exposure and reduced fetal growth may be risk factors for accelerated growth in early childhood, an important indicator for lifelong health.

Objective

The study investigated whether the joint effects are present between PM2.5 constituents and reduced fetal growth.

Methods

The study was embedded in a birth cohort in China, including 5424 mother-child pairs. Prenatal PM2.5 and its constituents’ [organic carbon (OC), elementary carbon (EC), ammonium (NH4+), nitrate (NO3−), and sulfate (SO42−)] concentrations were estimated based on maternal residential addresses. Fetal growth was evaluated by fetal growth trajectory in utero and preterm birth (PTB), low birth weight (LBW), and small for gestational age (SGA). Children’s accelerated growth was defined as body mass index (BMI) Z-score change of >0.67 between birth and 3 years. Generalized logistic regression was used to analyze the effects of prenatal PM2.5 constituents exposure and fetal growth on children’s accelerated growth. Joint effect was tested on multiplicative scale and additive scale with the relative excess risk due to interaction (RERI).

Results

Children with lower fetal growth trajectory, PTB, LBW, and SGA had increased odds of children’s accelerated growth, with odds ratios (ORs) ranging from 1.704 to 11.605. Compared with lower exposure (≤median), higher exposure (>median) of PM2.5, OC, and SO42− were significantly associated with increased odds of children’s accelerated growth, varying in ORs from 1.163 to 1.478. Prenatal exposure to OC had joint effects with lower fetal growth on children’s accelerated growth. We observed that the interaction was statistically significant on an additive scale in OC and lower fetal growth trajectory (RERI: 0.497, 95% CI: 0.033,0.962).

Impact

Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is a huge threat to human health worldwide, causing 6.7 million death globally in 2019. According to the theory of DOHaD, prenatal PM2.5 exposure could influence early childhood growth, which is important for lifelong health. We found that prenatal exposure to PM2.5, OC, and SO42− was associated with higher risk of accelerated childhood growth in the first 3 years. More importantly, reduced fetal growth moderated these associations. Our findings highlight the need for policies and interventions on PM2.5 constituents to improve lifelong health, especially for those vulnerable populations with reduced fetal growth.

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Fig. 1: The joint effects of prenatal exposure to PM2.5 or its constituents and fetal growth trajectory on children’s accelerated growth from birth to 3 years old.

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Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

The present study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 81973053). SZ was supported by the China Scholarship Council at the Erasmus University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands (202106010220) as well as the Innovation Fund for Outstanding PhD Candidates of Peking University Health Science Centre.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, Peking University, National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health, 100191, Beijing, China

    Shuang Zhou, Qin Li, Yuelong Ji, Hui Wang & Haijun Wang

  2. China CDC Key Laboratory of Environment and Population Health, National Institute of Environmental Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 100021, Beijing, China

    Tiantian Li & Yi Zhang

  3. Tongzhou Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital of Beijing, 101101, Beijing, China

    Na Han

  4. Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University at Albany, State University of New York, Rensselaer, NY, 12144, USA

    Kai Zhang

  5. Guangdong Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center of Environmental and Health Risk Assessment, Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, China

    Gongbo Chen

  6. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, 100191, Beijing, China

    Jue Liu

  7. Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control, Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210044, China

    Jianlin Hu & Ting Liu

  8. Department of Public Health, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Hein Raat

  9. Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Yuming Guo

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  1. Shuang Zhou
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  2. Tiantian Li
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  3. Na Han
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  4. Kai Zhang
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  7. Qin Li
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  14. Yuming Guo
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  15. Haijun Wang
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Contributions

SZ: conceptualization, methodology, writing—original draft, formal analysis. TTL, KZ, GBC, YZ, QL, JLH, TL, HR and YMG: methodology, software, writing—review and editing. NH, YLJ, JL and HW: investigation, resources, writing—review and editing. HJW: supervision, conceptualization, project administration, writing—review and editing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Haijun Wang.

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The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Peking University Health Science Center (No. IRB00001052-21023).

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Zhou, S., Li, T., Han, N. et al. The joint effects of prenatal exposure to PM2.5 constituents and reduced fetal growth on children’s accelerated growth in the first 3 years: a birth cohort study. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41370-024-00658-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41370-024-00658-x

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