Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Original Article
  • Published:

Proximity to roadways and pregnancy outcomes

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 23, pages 32–38 (2013)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Adverse birth outcomes are associated with exposure to air pollution during pregnancy. Road proximity is a simple, widely available metric for capturing local variation in exposure to traffic-related air pollution. We characterized maternal exposure to traffic-related air pollution during pregnancy using residential proximity to major roadways among 2004–2008 singleton births in NC. Controlling for maternal race, age, education, nativity, marital status, and tobacco use, and season of birth, parity, infant sex, and Census tract-level urbanization and income, we evaluated the association between road proximity and pregnancy outcomes using generalized linear mixed models with a random intercept for each Census tract. Birth weight, birth weight percentile for gestational age, gestational hypertension, and small-for-gestational age were not associated with road proximity; however, women residing within 250 m of a major roadway were at 3–5% increased odds of low birth weight, preterm birth, and late preterm birth compared with women residing beyond 250 m (P<0.05). Our analyses demonstrate an association between proximity to major roadways and pregnancy outcomes using a large sample. Road proximity may represent a relatively straightforward method for assessing maternal risk from exposure to traffic-related air pollution, with results offering guidance for studies that can more accurately characterize air pollution exposures.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Brunekreef B., and Holgate S.T. Air pollution and health. Lancet 2002: 360 (9341): 1233–1242.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Jerrett M., Arain A., Kanaroglou P., Beckerman B., Potoglou D., Sahsuvaroglu T., et al. A review and evaluation of intraurban air pollution exposure models. J Expo Anal Environ Epidemiol 2005: 15 (2): 185–204.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Sram R.J., Binkova B., Dejmek J., and Bobak M. Ambient air pollution and pregnancy outcomes: a review of the literature. Environ Health Perspect 2005: 113 (4): 375–382.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Hack M., Klein N.K., and Taylor H.G. Long-term developmental outcomes of low birth weight infants. Future Child 1995: 5 (1): 176–196.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Moster D., Lie R.T., and Markestad T. Long-term medical and social consequences of preterm birth. N Engl J Med 2008: 359 (3): 262–273.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Barker D.J. The intra-uterine origins of disturbed cholesterol homeostasis. Acta Paediatr 1999: 88 (5): 483–484.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Barker D.J., Martyn C.N., Osmond C., Hales C.N., and Fall C.H. Growth in utero and serum cholesterol concentrations in adult life. BMJ 1993: 307 (6918): 1524–1527.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Osmond C., Barker D.J., Winter P.D., Fall C.H., and Simmonds S.J. Early growth and death from cardiovascular disease in women. BMJ 1993: 307 (6918): 1519–1524.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Weiss J.L., Malone F.D., Emig D., Ball R.H., Nyberg D.A., Comstock C.H., et al. Obesity, obstetric complications and cesarean delivery rate — a population-based screening study. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2004: 190 (4): 1091–1097.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Damaceno-Rodrigues N.R., Veras M.M., Negri E.M., Zanchi A.C., Rhoden C.R., Saldiva P.H., et al. Effect of pre- and postnatal exposure to urban air pollution on myocardial lipid peroxidation levels in adult mice. Inhal Toxicol 2009: 21 (13): 1129–1137.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Fedulov A.V., Leme A., Yang Z., Dahl M., Lim R., Mariani T.J., et al. Pulmonary exposure to particles during pregnancy causes increased neonatal asthma susceptibility. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol 2008: 38 (1): 57–67.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Auten R.L, Gilmour M.I., Krantz Q.T., Potts E.N., Mason S.N., and Foster W.M. Maternal diesel inhalation increases airway hyperreactivity in ozone exposed offspring. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol 2011: 46 (4): 454–460.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Veras M., Damaceno-Rodrigues N., Caldini E., Maciel Ribeiro A., Mayhew T., Saldiva P., et al. Particulate urban air pollution affects the functional morphology of mouse placenta. Biol Reprod 2008: 79 (3): 578–584.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Rocha E., Silva I., Lichtenfels A.J., Amador Pereira L.A., and Saldiva P.H. Effects of ambient levels of air pollution generated by traffic on birth and placental weights in mice. Fertil Steril 2008: 90 (5): 1921–1924.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Mauad T., Rivero D., de Oliveira R., Lichtenfels A., Guimaraes E., de Andre P., et al. Chronic exposure to ambient levels of urban particles affects mouse lung development. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2008: 178 (7): 721–278.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Wenzel S., and Holgate S.T. The mouse trap: it still yields few answers in asthma. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2006: 174 (11): 1173–1176.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. van den Hooven E.H., Jaddoe V.W., de K.Y., Hofman A., Mackenbach J.P., Steegers E.A., et al. Residential traffic exposure and pregnancy-related outcomes: a prospective birth cohort study. Environ Health 2009: 8: 59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Genereux M., Auger N., Goneau M., and Daniel M. Neighbourhood socioeconomic status, maternal education and adverse birth outcomes among mothers living near highways. J Epidemiol Community Health 2008: 62 (8): 695–700.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Wilhelm M., and Ritz B. Residential proximity to traffic and adverse birth outcomes in Los Angeles county, California, 1994–1996. Environ Health Perspect 2003: 111 (2): 207–216.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Yang C.Y., Chang C.C., Chuang H.Y., Ho C.K., Wu T.N., and Tsai S.S. Evidence for increased risks of preterm delivery in a population residing near a freeway in Taiwan. Arch Environ Health 2003: 58 (10): 649–654.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Yorifuji T., Naruse H., Kashima S., Ohki S., Murakoshi T., Takao S., et al. Residential proximity to major roads and preterm births. Epidemiology 2011: 22 (1): 74–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Brauer M., Lencar C., Tamburic L., Koehoorn M., Demers P., and Karr C. A cohort study of traffic-related air pollution impacts on birth outcomes. Environ Health Perspect 2008: 116 (5): 680–686.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Zeka A., Melly S.J., and Schwartz J. The effects of socioeconomic status and indices of physical environment on reduced birth weight and preterm births in Eastern Massachusetts. Environ Health 2008: 7: 60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. US Census Bureau. 2006 Second Edition TIGER/Line Files. US Census Bureau, Washington, DC, 2007.

  25. US Census Bureau. 2006 Second Edition TIGER/Line Technical Documentation. US Census Bureau, Washington, DC, 2007.

  26. North Carolina Department of Transportation, Traffic Survey Group. AADT Traffic Volume Reports. http://www.ncdot.gov/doh/preconstruct/tpb/traffic_survey (last updated 2012).

  27. Karner A.A., Eisinger D.S., and Niemeier D.A. Near-roadway air quality: synthesizing the findings from real-world data. Environ Sci Technol 2010: 44 (14): 5334–5344.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. US Census Bureau. Census 2000 Summary File 3--NC. US Census Bureau, Washington, DC, 2002.

  29. Brook J.R., Poirot R.L., Dann T.F., Lee P.K., Lillyman C.D., and Ip T. Assessing sources of PM2.5 in cities influenced by regional transport. J Toxicol Environ Health A 2007: 70 (3–4): 191–199.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Diem J.E., and Comrie A.C. Predictive mapping of air pollution involving sparse spatial observations. Environ Pollut 2002: 119 (1): 99–117.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Ryan P.H., and Lemasters G.K. A review of land-use regression models for characterizing intraurban air pollution exposure. Inhal Toxicol 2007: 19 (Suppl 1): 127–133.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. The Green Book Nonattainment Areas for Criteria Pollutants. http://www.epa.gov/oaqps001/greenbk/index.html (last updated 30 August 2011).

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by funding for the Southern Center on Environmentally-Driven Disparities in Birth Outcomes provided by the US Environmental Protection Agency (RD-83329301).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Children's Environmental Health Initiative, School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

    Marie Lynn Miranda & Sharon E Edwards

  2. Department of Pediatrics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

    Marie Lynn Miranda

  3. Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Howard H Chang

  4. Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA

    Richard L Auten

Authors
  1. Marie Lynn Miranda
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sharon E Edwards
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Howard H Chang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Richard L Auten
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marie Lynn Miranda.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Miranda, M., Edwards, S., Chang, H. et al. Proximity to roadways and pregnancy outcomes. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 23, 32–38 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2012.78

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2012.78

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links