Surrounding greenness and exposure to air pollution during pregnancy: an analysis of personal monitoring data.
Environ Health Perspect
; 120(9): 1286-90, 2012 Sep.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-22647671
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Green spaces are reported to improve health status, including beneficial effects on pregnancy outcomes. Despite the suggestions of air pollution-related health benefits of green spaces, there is no available evidence on the impact of greenness on personal exposure to air pollution.OBJECTIVES:
We investigated the association between surrounding greenness and personal exposure to air pollution among pregnant women and to explore the potential mechanisms, if any, behind this association.METHODS:
In total, 65 rounds of sampling were carried out for 54 pregnant women who resided in Barcelona during 2008-2009. Each round consisted of a 2-day measurement of particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤ 2.5 µm (PM2.5) and a 1-week measurement of nitric oxides collected simultaneously at both the personal and microenvironmental levels. The study participants were also asked to fill out a time-microenvironment-activity diary during the sampling period. We used satellite retrievals to determine the surrounding greenness as the average of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) in a buffer of 100 m around each maternal residential address. We estimated the impact of surrounding greenness on personal exposure levels, home-outdoor and home-indoor pollutant levels, and maternal time-activity.RESULTS:
Higher residential surrounding greenness was associated with lower personal, home-indoor, and home-outdoor PM2.5 levels, and more time spent at home-outdoor.CONCLUSIONS:
We found lower levels of personal exposure to air pollution among pregnant women residing in greener areas. This finding may be partly explained by lower home-indoor pollutant levels and more time spent in less polluted home-outdoor environment by pregnant women in greener areas.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Poluentes Atmosféricos
/
Poluição do Ar
/
Meio Ambiente
/
Exposição Ambiental
Limite:
Adult
/
Female
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Humans
País/Região como assunto:
Europa
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2012
Tipo de documento:
Article