LATEBREAKER
Environment/Climate Change
Neighborhood pollution burden associated with newborn’s accelerated biological aging in MADRES, a predominately low-income, Hispanic cohort Zhongzheng Niu* Zhongzheng Niu Helen B. Foley Rima Habre Theresa M. Bastain Carrie V. Breton Shohreh F. Farzan
Background: Mitochondrial DNA contents (mtDNAc) and telomere length (TL), markers of biological aging, have been associated with environmental pollution. People are usually simultaneously exposed to multiple pollutants from multiple media (e.g., air or water), but little is known about the cumulative pollution burden on aging biomarkers in newborns.
Methods: We used qPCR to measure relative mtDNAc and TL (compared to a reference gene as a ratio) from 166 cord blood samples from the ongoing Maternal and Developmental Risks from Environmental and Social Stressors (MADRES) cohort. Residential address histories during pregnancy were assembled for each participant and used to link CalEnviroScreen 4.0 scores, a tool developed by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment to identify census tract-level cumulative environment pollution and vulnerability impacts. CalEnviroScreen scores include a cumulative pollution burden score and 13 individual pollution scores, such as long-term exposure to ozone, diesel PM emissions, traffic density, toxic release from facilities, drinking water contaminants, and proximity to solid waste sites. We analyzed the association of the cumulative pollution burden score and each individual pollutant score (in their tertiles) with mtDNAc and TL using linear regression adjusted for participants socioeconomical status, parental age, maternal health status, birth weight and gestational age.
Results: Compared to its lowest tertile, higher cumulative pollution burden score was associated with lower mtDNAc (2nd tertile β: -0.38, 95% CI: -0.65, -0.11; 3rd tertile β: -0.21, 95% CI: -0.48, 0.06). For individual pollution, long-term ozone levels, an air quality indicator, was associated with both lower mtDNAc (2nd tertile β: -0.05, 95% CI: -0.32, 0.23; 3rd tertile β: -0.34, 95% CI: -0.63, -0.05) and lower TL (2nd tertile β: -0.08, 95% CI: -0.21, 0.04; 3rd tertile β: -0.16, 95% CI: -0.29, -0.03), while most other types of individual pollution variables were not significantly associated with mtDNAc or TL.
Conclusion: Neighborhood cumulative environmental pollution burden and ozone individually were associated with lower newborn’s mtDNAc and TL, indicating accelerated biological aging.