Association of ambient fine particulate matter and its chemical constituents with preterm birth: a population-based cohort study with sibling comparison design

• Published in: BMC pregnancy and childbirth Vol. 25; no. 1; pp. 623 - 11
• Main Authors: Chang, Hui, Yu, Zengli, Zhao, Yuanfang, Zhang, Xiaoan, Zhao, Xin, Huang, Cunrui, Zhang, Huanhuan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central 28.05.2025; BMC
• Subjects: Adult; Air Pollutants - adverse effects; Air Pollutants - analysis; Cohort analysis; Cohort Studies; Constituents; Female; Fine particulate matter; Gestational Age; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Maternal Exposure - adverse effects; Outdoor air quality; Particulate Matter - adverse effects; Particulate Matter - analysis; Pregnancy; Premature Birth - epidemiology; Premature Birth - etiology; Preterm birth; Siblings; Socioeconomic factors; Womens health; Constituents; Fine particulate matter; Preterm birth; Siblings
• ISSN: 1471-2393; 1471-2393
• DOI: 10.1186/s12884-025-07678-x

Effects of ambient fine particulate matter (PM ) chemical constituents on preterm birth (PTB) are inconclusive. We performed a sibling-matched cohort study to explore the association between PM constituents and the risk of PTB. Changes in PM and the constituents (ΔPM ΔOC, ΔBC, ΔSO , ΔNH , ΔNO ) were calculated as the value at a follow-up pregnancy minus exposures in prior pregnancy. A fixed-effect regression model was used to determine the association of the within-group variation in PM total mass and constituents with PTB risk. Gestational age differences within matched siblings were also treated as outcomes. A total of 62,334 sibling pairs were analyzed. We observed that each 10 μg/m increase in ΔPM in first, second, and third trimester were not statistically significant associated with the risk of PTB, but shortened gestational age was observed, with -0.009 week (95% CI: -0.013, -0.005), -0.005 (95% CI: -0.008, -0.002), -0.012 (95%CI: -0.015, -0.008) and -0.019 week (95% CI: -0.026, -0.012) decrease in first, second, third and whole pregnancy. Our findings indicate that increase in ambient PM constituents was associated with a shorten gestational age. This study added a novel cohort evidence for the association of changes of PM components with gestational age.