Ambient Air Pollution and Cardiovascular Malformations in Atlanta, Georgia Open Access

Abstract

In this dissertation I investigated temporal relationships between ambient air pollution levels during weeks three through seven of pregnancy and risk of cardiovascular malformations among the cohort of infants and fetuses conceived during January 1, 1986 through March 12, 2003 in Atlanta, Georgia. Records of infants and fetuses with cardiovascular malformations were obtained from the Metropolitan Atlanta Congenital Defects Program, which conducts active, population-based birth defects surveillance on this cohort. These surveillance records were reviewed to exclude infants with transient newborn conditions and to group infants and fetuses with similar cardiovascular malformations for analysis. Ambient air pollution measurements of 8-hour maximum ozone and 24-hour average carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter < 10 μm in diameter, and sulfur dioxide were obtained from centrally-located stationary monitors. Temporal relationships between air pollution levels and risk of cardiovascular malformations were modeled using Poisson generalized linear models. I observed a positive association between particulate matter < 10 μm in diameter and risk of patent ductus arteriosus (risk ratio for an increase in the interquartile range of the pollutant = 1.60, 95 percent confidence interval: 1.11, 2.31). No other positive associations were observed.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Cardiovascular Malformations Chapter 3: Ambient Air Pollution Chapter 4: Methods Chapter 5: The Importance of Nomenclature for Congenital Heart Disease: Implications for Research and Evaluation Chapter 6: On the Issue of Confounding in Epidemiological Studies of Ambient Air Pollution and Pregnancy Outcomes Chapter 7: Ambient Air Pollution and Cardiovascular Malformations in Atlanta, Georgia, 1986-2003 Chapter 8: Conclusion References

About this Dissertation

Rights statement

• Permission granted by the author to include this thesis or dissertation in this repository. All rights reserved by the author. Please contact the author for information regarding the reproduction and use of this thesis or dissertation.

School	Laney Graduate School
Department	Epidemiology
Degree	PhD
Submission	Dissertation
Language	English
Research Field	Health Sciences, Epidemiology
Keyword	Birth Defects Air Pollution
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Tolbert, Paige, Emory University
Committee Members	Correa, Adolfo , Emory University Flanders, W Dana, Emory University Klein, Mitchel, Emory University Marcus, Michele, Emory University

Last modified

Primary PDF

Thumbnail	Title	Date Uploaded	Actions
	Ambient Air Pollution and Cardiovascular Malformations in Atlanta, Georgia ()	2018-08-28 13:30:01 -0400	Press to Select an action Download

Supplemental Files

Thumbnail	Title	Date Uploaded	Actions