Perinatal & Pediatric
Exploring Effects of PM2.5 and Neighborhood Stress on Inflammation in Pregnancy Teresa Janevic* Teresa M. Janevic Janevic Janevic Janevic Janevic Janevic Janevic Columbia University
Exposure to ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) during the first and second trimesters of pregnancy may increase inflammation in the third trimester measured through inflammatory indicator, HS-CRP. The relationship may be modified by stress due to neighborhood-based structural racism. We analyzed data from a New York City pregnancy cohort of individuals recruited between 2020-2022 who had an assayed sample of HS-CRP within the third trimester of pregnancy (> 196 days gestation), excluding samples taken a week within delivery and twin births. These analyses include 747 women with geocoded address data during pregnancy. We used the XIS-PM model of daily estimates of PM2.5 which we averaged by trimester. We used the Structural Racism Effect Index (SREI) to characterize neighborhood stress. To preserve temporality, we modeled first and second trimester-averages PM2.5 to estimate associations with percentage changes in third trimester log-transformed HS-CRP using linear regression. We included Race-ethnicity, Medicaid (yes/no), maternal age at enrollment, and gestational age at sample as covariates. We assessed effect modification by dividing SREI into quartiles where the fourth quartile represented the highest level of neighborhood stress. We excluded race-ethnicity from the interaction model with SREI. We found an association between first trimester PM2.5 and HS-CRP(adjusted percent change=4.67%, 95% CI=0.57%,8.88% per 1-unit increase in ug/m3).No association was observed between second trimester PM2.5 and HS-CRP(adjusted percent change=0.40%, 95% CI= -3.54%,4.34%). While no interaction was present, we observed a trend for second trimester PM2.5 in the fourth quartile supporting our hypothesis in highest SREI neighborhoods(adjusted percent change=7.6%, 95% CI= -0.06%,15.82%).This suggests that PM2.5 exposure in early gestation may be associated with higher inflammation in the third trimester and that women in highest-stress neighborhoods may be more susceptible.