Residential proximity to major roads and obstetrical complications

Exposure to air pollution is linked with an increased risk of preterm births. To provide further evidence on this relationship, we evaluated the association between proximity to major roads--as an index for air pollution exposure--and various obstetrical complications. Data were extracted from a database maintained by the perinatal hospital in Shizuoka, Japan. We restricted the analysis to mothers with singleton pregnancies of more than 22 weeks of gestation from 1997 to 2012 (n=19,077). Using the geocoded residential information, each mother was assigned proximity to major roads. We then estimated multivariate adjusted odds ratios and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the effects of proximity to major roads on various obstetrical complications (preeclampsia, gestational diabetes mellitus, placenta abruption, placenta previa, preterm premature rupture of membrane (pPROM), preterm labor, and preterm births). We found positive associations of proximity to major roads with preeclampsia and pPROM. Living within 200 m increased the odds of preeclampsia by 1.3 times (95% CI, 1.0-1.8) and pPROM by 1.6 times (95% CI, 1.1-2.2). Furthermore, living within 200 m increased the odds of preterm births by 1.4 fold (95% CI, 1.2-1.7). Exposure to traffic-related air pollution increased the risk of preeclampsia and pPROM in this study. We propose a mechanism responsible for the association between air pollution and preterm births.