Exposure to landscape fire smoke reduced birthweight in low- and middle-income countries: findings from a siblings-matched case-control study

eLife

Jiwei Li¹  Tianjia Guan²  Jiajianghui Li³  Fuyu Guo³  Tao Xue³  Huiyu Wang³  Qian Guo⁴  Guannan Geng⁵ 

[1] College of Computer Science and Technology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China;Department of Health Policy, School of Health Policy and Management, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China;Institute of Reproductive and Child Health / Ministry of Health Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing, China;School of Energy and Environmental Engineering, University of Science and Technology, Beijing, China;School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China;

关键词: child health;    wildfire;    climate change;    maternal health;    Human;   

DOI  :  10.7554/eLife.69298

来源: eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd

【 摘 要 】

Background:Landscape fire smoke (LFS) has been associated with reduced birthweight, but evidence from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is rare.Methods:Here, we present a sibling-matched case–control study of 227,948 newborns to identify an association between fire-sourced fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and birthweight in 54 LMICs from 2000 to 2014. We selected mothers from the geocoded Demographic and Health Survey with at least two children and valid birthweight records. Newborns affiliated with the same mother were defined as a family group. Gestational exposure to LFS was assessed in each newborn using the concentration of fire-sourced PM2.5. We determined the associations of the within-group variations in LFS exposure with birthweight differences between matched siblings using a fixed-effects regression model. Additionally, we analyzed the binary outcomes of low birthweight (LBW) or very low birthweight (VLBW).Results:According to fully adjusted models, a 1 µg/m3 increase in the concentration of fire-sourced PM2.5 was significantly associated with a 2.17 g (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.56–3.77) reduction in birthweight, a 2.80% (95% CI 0.97–4.66) increase in LBW risk, and an 11.68% (95% CI 3.59–20.40) increase in VLBW risk.Conclusions:Our findings indicate that gestational exposure to LFS harms fetal health.Funding:PKU-Baidu Fund, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Peking University Health Science Centre, and CAMS Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences.

【 授权许可】

CC BY