ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between acute exposure to air pollutants and spontaneous pregnancy loss. DESIGN: Case-crossover study from 2007 to 2015. SETTING: An academic emergency department in the Wasatch Front area of Utah. PATIENT(S): A total of 1,398 women who experienced spontaneous pregnancy loss events. INTERVENTION(S): None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Odds of spontaneous pregnancy loss. RESULT(S): We found that a 10-ppb increase in 7-day average levels of nitrogen dioxide was associated with a 16% increase in the odds of spontaneous pregnancy loss (odds ratio [OR] = 1.16; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01-1.33; P=.04). A 10-µg/m3 increase in 3-day and 7-day averages of fine particulate matter were associated with increased risk of spontaneous pregnancy loss, but the associations did not reach statistical significance (OR3-day average = 1.09; 95% CI 0.99-1.20; P=.05) (OR7-day average = 1.11; 95% CI 0.99-1.24; P=.06). We found no evidence of increased risk for any other metrics of nitrogen dioxide or fine particulate matter or any metric for ozone. CONCLUSIONS: We found that short-term exposure to elevated levels of air pollutants was associated with higher risk for spontaneous pregnancy loss.
