Columbia University Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, 722 West 168th St. 16thfloor, New York, NY, 10032, USA.
New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Division of Family and Child Health, 42-09 28thStreet, Queens, NY, 11101, USA.
Int J Hyg Environ Health. 2022 Jun;243:113991. doi: 10.1016/j.ijheh.2022.113991. Epub 2022 Jun 7.
Previous research has observed relationships between higher prenatal exposure to air pollutants and neurodevelopmental and academic outcomes later in childhood. Identifying intermediate outcomes mediating this relationship would inform prevention and intervention efforts. We aimed to investigate if previously observed associations between prenatal exposure to common urban air pollutants, diesel and perchloroethylene, and performance on third grade standardized tests were mediated through increased risk of preterm birth.
Data from the 1994-1998 birth cohorts within the New York City Longitudinal Study of Early Development were included in this analysis. Exposure was determined by linking the mother's residence at the time of delivery to the U.S. EPA's 1996 National Air Toxic Assessment of estimated ambient concentrations of diesel and perchloroethylene. Children's third grade standardized math and language tests were used as the markers for academic achievement. Missing data on covariates were imputed, while participants with missing information on gestational age and test scores were excluded. Linear regression models and causal mediation analysis were used to examine potential mediation by preterm birth.
In total, 187,723 and 196,122 participants were included in language and math analyses, respectively. Children with exposure to the fourth quartile of diesel or perchloroethylene had approximately 0.03 (95%CI: 0.02, 0.04) lower math z-scores when compared to individuals with exposure in the first quartile, although there was no consistent decreasing trend in math z-scores over increasing quartiles of diesel or perchloroethylene. We did not find evidence of mediation by preterm birth or exposure-mediator interaction in our models.
We did not find evidence that observed relationships between exposure to common urban air pollutants and test z-scores in childhood were mediated through an increased risk of preterm birth. This suggests other pathways between early exposure to air pollution and neurodevelopment should be investigated with causal mediation approaches.
先前的研究观察到，产前暴露于空气污染物与儿童后期的神经发育和学业成绩之间存在关联。确定中介这种关系的中间结果将为预防和干预工作提供信息。我们旨在研究先前观察到的与产前暴露于常见城市空气污染物（柴油和全氯乙烯）与三年级标准化测试成绩之间的关联是否通过增加早产风险来介导。
本分析纳入了纽约市早期发展纵向研究 1994-1998 年出生队列的数据。通过将母亲分娩时的住所与美国环保署 1996 年的国家空气毒物评估联系起来，确定了暴露情况，该评估估计了柴油和全氯乙烯的环境浓度。儿童三年级的标准化数学和语言测试被用作学业成绩的标志物。对协变量的缺失数据进行了插补，而对胎龄和测试分数缺失信息的参与者则被排除在外。线性回归模型和因果中介分析用于检验早产的潜在中介作用。
总共纳入了 187723 名和 196122 名参与者分别进行语言和数学分析。与暴露于第一四分位数的个体相比，暴露于柴油或全氯乙烯四分位数第四的儿童的数学 z 分数约低 0.03（95%CI：0.02，0.04），但数学 z 分数没有随着柴油或全氯乙烯四分位数的增加而呈持续下降趋势。在我们的模型中，我们没有发现早产或暴露-中介物相互作用中介的证据。
我们没有发现证据表明，儿童时期暴露于常见城市空气污染物与测试 z 分数之间的观察到的关系是通过早产风险增加来介导的。这表明，应该使用因果中介方法来研究早期暴露于空气污染与神经发育之间的其他途径。
