Department of Economics, School of Arts and Sciences, University of Rochester, 280 Hutchison Rd, Rochester, NY, USA; Department of Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rochester, 265 Crittenden Blvd Box 420644, Rochester, NY, USA.
Department of Government and Sociology, College of Arts and Sciences, Georgia College and State University, 410 W Greene St, Milledgeville, GA, USA.
Environ Res. 2024 Jul 1;252(Pt 2):118788. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2024.118788. Epub 2024 Mar 28.
Traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) poses a significant public health risk that is associated with adverse birth outcomes. Large roadway infrastructure projects present a natural experiment to examine how resulting congestion change is associated with adverse birth outcomes for nearby populations. This study is designed to examine the influence of living close to a roadway before, during, and after a construction project using a difference-in-differences design. We integrated data on all large roadway construction projects (defined as widening of existing roads, building new roads, improving bridges, installing intelligent transportation systems, improving intersections, and installing or upgrading traffic signals) in Texas from 2007 to 2016 with Vital Statistic data for all births with residential addresses within 1 km of construction projects. Our outcomes included term low birth weight, term birth weight, preterm birth, and very preterm birth. Using a difference-in-differences design, we included births within 3 years of construction start and 2 years of construction end. In our main model, the exposed group is limited to pregnant individuals residing within 300 m of a construction project, and the control group includes those living within 300-1000 m from a project. We used regression models to estimate the influence of construction on infant health. We included 1,360 large roadway construction projects linked to 408,979 births. During construction, we found that the odds of term low birth weight increased by 19% (95% CI: 1.05, 1.36). However, we saw little evidence of an association for other birth outcomes. Contrary to our hypothesis of decreased TRAP after construction ends, we did not observe consistent improvements post-construction for pregnant individuals living within 300 m. Continued consideration of the influence of traffic congestion programs on birth outcomes is necessary to inform future policy decisions.
交通相关的空气污染（TRAP）对公共健康构成重大风险，与不良生育结局有关。大型道路基础设施项目提供了一个自然实验，可以研究由此产生的交通拥堵变化如何与附近人口的不良生育结局相关。本研究旨在使用双重差分设计，研究在建设项目之前、期间和之后居住在道路附近对生育的影响。我们整合了 2007 年至 2016 年德克萨斯州所有大型道路建设项目（定义为拓宽现有道路、修建新道路、改善桥梁、安装智能交通系统、改善交叉口以及安装或升级交通信号）的数据，以及所有在建设项目 1 公里范围内的住宅地址的出生人口的生命统计数据。我们的结果包括足月低体重儿、足月体重儿、早产和极早产。使用双重差分设计，我们纳入了建设开始后 3 年和建设结束后 2 年的出生人口。在我们的主要模型中，暴露组仅限于居住在建设项目 300 米以内的孕妇，对照组包括居住在项目 300-1000 米以内的孕妇。我们使用回归模型来估计建设对婴儿健康的影响。我们纳入了 1360 个与 408979 个出生人口相关的大型道路建设项目。在建设期间，我们发现足月低体重儿的几率增加了 19%（95%CI：1.05，1.36）。然而，我们几乎没有发现其他生育结局存在关联的证据。与我们建设结束后交通相关空气污染减少的假设相反，我们没有观察到居住在 300 米以内的孕妇在建设结束后持续改善的情况。需要继续考虑交通拥堵计划对生育结局的影响，以便为未来的政策决策提供信息。
