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Increased vascular stiffness in children exposed in utero but not children exposed postnatally to emissions from a coal mine fire
Hemstock, Emily J. Bigaran, Ashley Allgood, Shantelle Wheeler, Amanda J. Dalton, Marita Williamson, Grant J. Gao, Caroline X. Abramson, Michael J. Negishi, Kazuaki Johnston, Fay H.
Hemstock, Emily J.
Bigaran, Ashley
Allgood, Shantelle
Wheeler, Amanda J.
Dalton, Marita
Williamson, Grant J.
Gao, Caroline X.
Abramson, Michael J.
Negishi, Kazuaki
Johnston, Fay H.
Abstract
Background:
Chronic, low-intensity air pollution exposure has been consistently associated with increased atherosclerosis in adults. However, there was limited research regarding the implications of acute, high-intensity air pollution exposure during childhood. We aimed to determine whether there were any associations between early-life exposure to such an episode and early-life vascular function changes.
Methods:
We conducted a prospective cohort study of children (<9 years old) who lived in the vicinity of the Hazelwood coal mine fire (n = 206). Vascular function was measured using noninvasive diagnostic methods including carotid intima-media thickness and pulse wave velocity (PWV). Exposure estimates were calculated from prognostic models and location diaries during the exposure period completed by each participant’s parent. Linear mixed-effects models were used to determine whether there were any associations between exposure and changes in vascular outcomes at the 3- and 7-year follow-ups and over time.
Results:
At the 7-year follow-up, each 10 μg/m3 increase in daily PM2.5 in utero was associated with increased PWV (β = 0.13 m/s; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.02, 0.24; P = 0.02). The association between in utero exposure to daily PM2.5 was not altered by adjustment for covariates, body mass index, and maternal fire stress. Each 1 µg/m3 increase in background PM2.5 was associated with increased PWV (β = 0.68 m/s; 95% CI = 0.10, 1.26; P = 0.025), in children from the in utero exposure group. There was a trend toward smaller PWV (β = −0.17 m/s; 95% CI = −0.366, 0.02) from the 3- to 7-year follow-up clinic suggesting that the deficits observed previously in children exposed postnatally did not persist.
Conclusion:
There was a moderate improvement in vascular stiffness of children exposed to PM2.5 from a local coal mine fire in infancy. There was a mild increase in vascular stiffness in children exposed to PM2.5 from a local coal mine fire while their mothers were pregnant.
Keywords
air pollution, atherosclerosis, early childhood, intima-media thickness, pm2.5, smoke, vascular stiffness
Date
2024
Type
Journal article
Journal
Environmental Epidemiology
Book
Volume
8
Issue
3
Page Range
1-9
Article Number
Article e309
ACU Department
Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research
Faculty of Health Sciences
Faculty of Health Sciences
Collections
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
Published as ‘gold’ (paid) open access
License
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
File Access
Open
Notes
Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of The Environmental Epidemiology. All rights reserved.
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives License 4.0 (CCBY-NC-ND) (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), where it is permissible to download and share the work provided it is properly cited. The work cannot be changed in any way or used commercially without permission from the journal.