Environment/Climate Change
Associations between residential proximity to oil and gas development and adverse birth outcomes in a North American preconception cohort Erin Campbell* Erin Campbell Kaylin Vrkljan Martha Koenig Dmitrii Krivorotko Jordan Kuiper Nicole Deziel Jonathan Buonocore Amelia Wesselink Lauren Wise Mary Willis
Background: Despite widespread calls for decarbonization, the oil and gas industry continues to expand in the U.S. A growing body of literature reports associations between living near oil and gas development and higher risk of adverse birth outcomes. However, no study explored these associations using a prospective cohort study with primary data collection.
Methods: We used data from U.S. participants enrolled in Pregnancy Study Online (PRESTO), a prospective North American preconception cohort study of self-identified female participants attempting conception without fertility treatment. Among participants whose pregnancy progressed beyond 20 weeks, we obtained birth outcome data from self-administered questionnaires. We created a measure of small vulnerable newborn (SVN) status, a validated clinically relevant composite of low birthweight, preterm, and small-for gestational-age. Using participants’ geocoded addresses, we calculated residential proximity measures to the nearest active oil and gas development site at conception. To evaluate the association between residential proximity to oil and gas development and risk of SVN, we used Cox proportional hazard models to estimate age-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs, with gestational weeks as the timescale.
Results: Among 5,373 participants in the analytic sample, 17.4% (n=932) gave birth to a newborn categorized as SVN, and 10.5% (n=562) resided within 5km of active oil and gas development. We found that residence within 5km of active oil and gas development was associated with an age-adjusted HR of 1.16 (95% CI: 0.94, 1.43), compared to residence greater than 10km from active oil and gas development. Associations were similar magnitude among components of SVN (e.g., low birthweight, preterm, and small-for gestational-age).
Conclusion: Although results were imprecise, our preliminary models indicate that closer residential proximity to oil and gas development is associated with slightly higher risk of SVN.