Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Jul 3;71(4):208-15.
doi: 10.1080/19338244.2015.1058236. Epub 2015 Jun 11.

Impact of the 2008 Beijing Olympics on the risk of pregnancy complications

Vanessa Assibey-Mensah  1 , Kaibo Liu  2 , Sally W Thurston  3 , Timothy P Stevens  4 , Junfeng Zhang  5   6 , Jinliang Zhang  7 , Cathleen Kane  1 , Ying Pan  2 , Barry Weinberger  8 , Pamela Ohman-Strickland  9 , Tracey Woodruff  10 , David Q Rich  1
Affiliations

Impact of the 2008 Beijing Olympics on the risk of pregnancy complications

Vanessa Assibey-Mensah et al. Arch Environ Occup Health. .

Abstract

Taking advantage of the natural experiment of the 2008 Beijing Olympics (August 8 to September 24), when air pollution levels decreased by 13% to 60%, the authors assessed whether having ≥1 pregnancy month during the Olympics was associated with decreased risks of hypertensive disorders (HDs) and/or fetal-placental conditions (FPCs). Singleton births to mothers with ≥1 pregnancy month in 2008 or 2009 (N = 56,155) were included. Using generalized additive models, the authors estimated the risk of HDs and FPCs associated with (1) the 2008 Olympics compared with the same dates in 2009, and (2) increased mean ambient PM10 (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter <10 μm), NO2 (nitrogen dioxide), and SO2 (sulfur dioxide) concentrations during each trimester. However, no association between HDs or FPCs and having any trimester during the 2008 Olympic period was found. This may, in part, be due to a small number of pregnancy complications in this population.

Keywords: 2008 Beijing Olympics; air pollution reduction; hypertensive disorders; placental conditions; pregnancy complications.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests Declaration: The authors declare that they have no conflicting interests.

References

    1. Wilhelm M, Ritz B. Residential proximity to traffic and adverse birth outcomes in Los Angeles county, California, 1994-1996. Environmental Health Perspectives. 2003;111:207. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Šrám RJ, Binková B, Dejmek J, Bobak M. Ambient air pollution and pregnancy outcomes: a review of the literature. Environmental health perspectives. 2005:375–82. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ritz B, Wilhelm M, Hoggatt KJ, Ghosh JKC. Ambient air pollution and preterm birth in the environment and pregnancy outcomes study at the University of California, Los Angeles. American Journal of Epidemiology. 2007;166:1045–52. - PubMed
    1. Rich DQ, Demissie K, Lu S-E, Kamat L, Wartenberg D, Rhoads GG. Ambient air pollutant concentrations during pregnancy and the risk of fetal growth restriction. Journal of epidemiology and community health. 2009;63:488–96. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bonzini M, Carugno M, Grillo P, Mensi C, Bertazzi P, Pesatori AC. Impact of ambient air pollution on birth outcomes: systematic review of the current evidences. La Medicina del lavoro. 2009;101:341–63. - PubMed

Publication types

Substances