The effect of temporary and intense exposure to particulate matter on birth outcomes in Montevideo

Balsa, Ana Inés; Caffera, Marcelo; Bloomfield, Juanita

dc.rights.license	Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional	*
dc.contributor.author	Balsa, Ana Inés
dc.contributor.author	Caffera, Marcelo
dc.contributor.author	Bloomfield, Juanita
dc.coverage.spatial	Uruguay	es
dc.date.accessioned	2022-04-22T19:59:08Z
dc.date.available	2022-04-22T19:59:08Z
dc.date.issued	2015	es
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12806/1346
dc.description.abstract	Background: Prior estimates of the correlation between ambient air pollutants’ concentrations and perinatal health show dispersion in magnitudes, as well as positive and negative signs. These differences may be partially explained by the diverse array of methodological approaches between studies, including the set of confounders considered. Objectives: This study explores the effect of breath able particulate matter with diameter of 10 micrometers or less(PM10) on perinatal outcomes in Uruguay, a middle-income country in South America with levels of PM10 that in general do not exceed the recommended thresholds. The analyzed outcomes are: birth weight (BW), the risk of low birth weight (LBW) and the risk of a pre-term birth (PTB). Methods: We exploit the fact that in 2011 the ashes and dust resulting from the eruption of the Puyehue volcano in Chile more than doubled monthly averages of PM10 concentration levels in Montevideo, Uruguay. Using prenatal and birth data for 2010-2013, we estimate the associations between mother’s average exposure to PM10 in each trimester-of-pregnancy and perinatal outcomes controlling for a rich set of covariates. Results: We find that exposure to high levels of PM10 concentration (above 50 μg/m³for the trimester average) during the third trimester of pregnancy is associated with higher rates of low birth weight and prematurity, and lower birth weight. These effects are quite robust to different specifications, and are particularly large for pregnancies exposed to concentration levels above70 μg/m³,suggesting non-linear effects. The impact of PM10 on BW and on the rate of LBW appears to be driven primarily by an effect on prematurity. Conclusions: Exploiting a natural experiment, our study shows that exposure to high levels of PM10during the third trimester of pregnancy can trigger preterm births.	es
dc.format.extent	40 p.	es
dc.format.mimetype	application/pdf	es
dc.language	eng	es
dc.publisher	Universidad de Montevideo, Facultad de Ciencias Empresariales y Economía, Departamento de Economía	es
dc.relation.ispartof	Documentos de trabajo del Departamento de Economía; UM_CEE_2015_02	es
dc.rights	Abierto	es
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/	*
dc.subject	Peso al nacer	es
dc.title	The effect of temporary and intense exposure to particulate matter on birth outcomes in Montevideo	es
dc.type	Documento de trabajo	es
dc.contributor.filiacion	Balsa, Ana Inés. Universidad de Montevideo, Uruguay	es
dc.contributor.filiacion	Caffera, Marcelo. Universidad de Montevideo, Uruguay	es
dc.contributor.filiacion	Bloomfield, Juanita. University of Amsterdam	es
dc.type.version	Publicada	es