Preterm Birth among Infants Exposed to in Utero Ultrafine Particles from Aircraft Emissions.

Introduction: Ambient air pollution is a known risk factor for adverse birth outcomes, but the role of ultrafine particles (UFPs) is not well understood. Aircraft-origin UFPs adversely affect air quality over large residential areas downwind of airports, but their reproductive health burden remains uninvestigated.
Objectives: This analysis evaluated whether UFPs from jet aircraft emissions are associated with increased rates of preterm birth (PTB) among pregnant mothers living downwind of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).
Methods: This population-based study used birth records, provided by the California Department of Public Health, to ascertain birth outcomes and a novel, validated geospatial UFP dispersion model approach to estimate in utero exposures. All mothers who gave birth from 2008 to 2016 while living within 15 km of LAX were included in this analysis ( N = 174,186 ; including 15,134 PTBs).
Results: In utero exposure to aircraft-origin UFPs was positively associated with PTB. The odds ratio (OR) per interquartile range (IQR) increase [9,200 particles per cubic centimeter (cc)] relative UFP exposure was 1.04 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.02, 1.06]. When comparing the fourth quartile of UFP exposure to the first quartile, the OR for PTB was 1.14 (95% CI: 1.08, 1.20), adjusting for maternal demographic characteristics, exposure to traffic-related air pollution, and airport-related noise.
Conclusion: Our results suggest that emissions from aircraft play an etiologic role in PTBs, independent of noise and traffic-related air pollution exposures. These findings are of public health concern because UFP exposures downwind of airfields are common and may affect large, densely populated residential areas. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP5732.