PARTICULATE AIR POLLUTION EXPOSURE AND C-REACTIVE PROTEIN DURING EARLY PREGNANCY

Background and Aims: It is not well understood how air pollution leads to adverse pregnancy outcomes. One pathway may be through C-reactive protein, a biomarker of systemic inflammation that has been reported to increase the risk of preterm delivery. We examined whether air pollution influences serum concentrations of C-reactive protein in early pregnancy. Methods: We studied 1696 pregnant women in Allegheny County, PA, from 1997 through 2001. C-reactive protein concentrations were assayed in blood collected before the 22nd week of gestation. We estimated levels of particles of less than 10 µm (PM10) and less than 2.5 µm diameter (PM2.5), carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and ozone at the maternal ZIP code using Kriging interpolation for measurements obtained from ambient stations. Employing logistic regression we evaluated associations between air pollution and high C-reactive protein concentrations (• 8 ng/ml). Results: Among non-smokers, observed 9.2 µg/m3 increase in PM10 (averaged ov...