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MILGENHEL-Miljø, gener og helse

Air pollution, pregnancy outcomes and complications in Oslo 1992-2002

Awarded: NOK 1.9 mill.

There is increasing evidence that current levels of urban air pollution can cause adverse health effects in humans. So far, the scientific documentation of fetal effects of urban air pollution is limited. However, the research question if ambient air poll ution can increase the risk of perinatal death, preterm delivery, low birth weight and malformations, has been raised and results from a few studies support this view. These studies have in general had weaknesses related to study design and methods for ex posure assessments. There is therefore a need to confirm these findings, preferably in new studies with better study designs and better methods for assessing ambient air pollution exposure. A recent review by Maisonet M et al concludes that there is a nee d for more research, which also is in accordance with conclusions from an expert group established by the WHO/EU. The Norwegian Birth Register collects information from all pregnancies/births in Norway including information on maternal health in pregnancy , pregnancy complications and pregnancy outcomes. Furthermore, the Norwegian Institute of Air Research and The Norwegian Institute of Public Health has developed a data base giving estimates of air pollution levels at all addresses in Oslo during the peri od 1992-2002. By linking information on home addresses for women giving birth in Oslo to information on exposure in the air pollution data base we will be able to estimate levels of air pollution at all pregnant women’s home addresses during the period 19 92-2002. The database can provide short-term exposure like daily levels of air pollution, but more relevant are maybe estimates of air pollution exposure per trimester. In this way we will be able to address the associations between air pollution exposure and pregnancy complication and outcomes prospectively, including individual estimates of air pollution exposure fore more than 80 000 pregnancies.

Funding scheme:

MILGENHEL-Miljø, gener og helse

Thematic Areas and Topics

No thematic area or topic related to the project