This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
EDEN Study: Gestational exposure to urban air pollution lowered vitamin D levels
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Gestational exposure to urban air pollution led to a statistically significant reduction in cord blood serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, thus posing a threat to the child’s future health, according to study results published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.
“We investigated the associations between gestational exposure to urban air pollutants and vitamin D cord blood serum level,” researcher Nour Baïz, MASc, of Intitut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) in Paris, said in a press release. “Our findings show for the first time that exposure to ambient air pollution comparable to current World Health Organization standards might contribute to vitamin D deficiency in newborns.”
The researchers chose to examine the link between gestational exposure to urban air pollutants and 25-(OH)D cord blood serum levels via 375 mother–child pairs of the French Etude des Déterminants pré et post natals du développement et de la santé de l’Enfant (EDEN) prospective Birth Cohort Study.
Using the Atmospheric Dispersion Modelling System (ADMS-Urban) pollution model, researchers combined data from various endpoints to account for the concentrations of two major urban pollutants at the mother’s home address during pregnancy, researchers wrote.
According to data, maternal exposure to ambient urban levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter less than 10 mcm in diameter (PM10) throughout the entire pregnancy was a predictor of low vitamin D status in newborns.
Upon making adjustments, log-transformed 25-(OH)D was decreased by 0.15 U (P=.05) resulting in a 10-mcg/m3 increase in NO2, and 25-(OH)D was decreased by 0.41 U (P=.04) resulting in a 10-mcg/m3 increase in PM10 pregnancy levels, researchers wrote.
The associations were significant in nearly every trimester of gestation but were strongest for third-trimester exposures (P=.0003 for NO2; P=.004 for PM10), they said.
Although impressive data have been presented, researchers said biological mechanisms that could better explain the links between in utero exposure to urban pollutants and eventual vitamin D deficiency in cord blood serum remains unclear. Therefore, the researchers have begun a follow-up study of the children in the EDEN cohort, they wrote.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts