OBJECTIVE To investigate the relationship between acute exposure to air pollutants and spontaneous pregnancy loss. DESIGN Case-crossover study from 2007 to 2015. SETTING An academic emergency department in the Wasatch Front… Click to show full abstract
OBJECTIVE To investigate the relationship between acute exposure to air pollutants and spontaneous pregnancy loss. DESIGN Case-crossover study from 2007 to 2015. SETTING An academic emergency department in the Wasatch Front area of Utah. PATIENT(S) A total of 1,398 women who experienced spontaneous pregnancy loss events. INTERVENTION(S) None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S) Odds of spontaneous pregnancy loss. RESULT(S) We found that a 10-ppb increase in 7-day average levels of nitrogen dioxide was associated with a 16% increase in the odds of spontaneous pregnancy loss (odds ratio [OR] = 1.16; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01-1.33; P=.04). A 10-μg/m3 increase in 3-day and 7-day averages of fine particulate matter were associated with increased risk of spontaneous pregnancy loss, but the associations did not reach statistical significance (OR3-day average = 1.09; 95% CI 0.99-1.20; P=.05) (OR7-day average = 1.11; 95% CI 0.99-1.24; P=.06). We found no evidence of increased risk for any other metrics of nitrogen dioxide or fine particulate matter or any metric for ozone. CONCLUSIONS We found that short-term exposure to elevated levels of air pollutants was associated with higher risk for spontaneous pregnancy loss.
               
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