Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Jul 14;18(14):7512. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18147512.
Exposure levels to environmental pollutants vary significantly among different populations. These inequities in exposure to hazardous air pollutants (HAP) among different populations can contribute to disparities in neurodevelopmental outcomes. The aim of this study was to determine if exposure to HAP varies by maternal nativity status, a demographic marker often overlooked in the study of health disparities. We also assessed if those inequalities in exposure levels are associated with neurodevelopmental measures in young children. To do this, we obtained data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth cohort (ECLS-B), a nationally representative sample of children born in the U.S. in the year 2001 ( = 4750). Bayley's Short Form-Research Edition (BSF-R) was used to measure cognitive development at 2 years of age. Using residential location at nine months of age, participants were assigned exposures to ten HAPs identified as potentially neurotoxic. Linear regression models were used to assess the joint effect of maternal nativity status and HAP exposure on neurodevelopment. Results showed inequities in exposure levels to ten different HAPs among the populations, as approximately 32% of children of foreign-born mothers were exposed to high levels of HAPs, compared to 21% of children born to U.S.-born mothers. Adjusting for socioeconomic factors, both isophorone exposure (a marker of industrial pollution) (-0.04, 95% CI, -0.12, 0.04) and maternal nativity status (-0.17, 95% CI, -0.27, -0.06) were independently associated with lower standardized BSF-R mental scores in children. Interaction between nativity status and isophorone was not statistically significant, but the change in mental scores associated with isophorone exposure was greater in children of foreign-born mothers compared to children of U.S.-born mothers (-0.12, vs. -0.03, = 0.2). In conclusion, exposure to HAPs within the highest quartile was more commonly found among children of foreign-born mothers as compared to children of US-born mothers, indicating inequities in pollutant exposure by nativity status within urban populations. Exposures associated with nativity status may negatively contribute to children's neurodevelopment.
不同人群暴露于环境污染物的水平存在显著差异。不同人群接触危险空气污染物（HAP）的这种不平等可能导致神经发育结果的差异。本研究的目的是确定 HAP 的暴露是否因产妇出生地而异，这是健康差异研究中经常被忽视的人口统计学标志。我们还评估了这些暴露水平的不平等是否与幼儿的神经发育测量值有关。为此，我们从早期儿童纵向研究-出生队列（ECLS-B）中获取了数据，这是一个代表美国 2001 年出生的儿童的全国性样本（n=4750）。贝利短期形式-研究版（BSF-R）用于测量 2 岁时的认知发展。使用九个月大时的居住地点，根据十个被认为具有潜在神经毒性的 HAP 来分配参与者的暴露量。线性回归模型用于评估产妇出生地状况和 HAP 暴露对神经发育的联合影响。结果显示，在不同人群中，十种不同 HAP 的暴露水平存在不平等，约 32%的外国出生母亲的孩子接触到高水平的 HAP，而美国出生母亲的孩子中只有 21%接触到高水平的 HAP。调整社会经济因素后，异佛尔酮的暴露量（工业污染的标志物）（-0.04，95%置信区间，-0.12，0.04）和产妇出生地状况（-0.17，95%置信区间，-0.27，-0.06）均与儿童的标准化 BSF-R 精神评分较低独立相关。出生地状况和异佛尔酮之间的交互作用没有统计学意义，但与异佛尔酮暴露相关的精神评分变化在外国出生母亲的孩子中比在美国出生母亲的孩子中更大（-0.12，与-0.03，=0.2）。总之，与美国出生母亲的孩子相比，外国出生母亲的孩子更常接触到最高四分位数的 HAP，这表明城市人口中按出生地状况划分的污染物暴露存在不平等。与出生地状况相关的暴露可能会对儿童的神经发育产生负面影响。
