Maternal Pm2.5 Exposure During Gestation and Offspring Neurodevelopment: Findings from a Prospective Birth Cohort Study

Abstract

Emerging data has suggested the potential role of prenatal PM 2.5 exposure as a neurotoxin for offspring. However, the existing results are equivocal, and no study has examined the effects of complex chemical constituents of the particular matter on offspring neurodevelopment. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the associations of prenatal exposure to PM 2.5 and to specific chemical constituents with offspring neurodevelopment in a prospective birth cohort study conducted in Jiangsu, China. A total of 1,531 children who had available data on daily PM 2.5 exposure prenatally and completed assessment on neurodevelopment at 1 year old were enrolled. We used the high-performance machine-learning model to estimate daily PM 2.5 exposure concentrations at 1 km spatial revolution, and the combined geoscience-statistical model to evaluate average concentrations of six chemical constituents [organic matter(OM), black carbon(BC), sulfate(SO 4 2- ), nitrate(NO 3 - ), ammonium(NH 4 + ), and soil dust(Dust)]. Neurodevelopment of children was assessed using Bayley-Ⅲ Screening Test. After adjusting for confounding factors, the risk of non-optimal gross motor development increased by 31% for every 10μg/m 3 increase in average PM 2.5 exposure during gestation (aRR: 1.31; 95%CI: 1.04, 1.63). Further analysis of PM 2.5 constituents showed that prenatal exposed to high SO 4 2- was associated with the risk of non-optimal gross motor development (aRR: 1.40; 95%CI: 1.09, 1.81). Null associations were observed for the rest four domains. Collectively, our study suggested that prenatal exposure to PM 2.5 , particular with high SO 4 2- concentration, was associated with children’s non-optimal gross motor development at 1 year old. The short- and long-term influences of perinatal PM 2.5 exposure on children neurodevelopment warrants further investigation.

Keywords: fine particulate matter, Chemical constituents, Birth Cohort, neurodevelopment