Impact Of Atmospheric Pollution On Birth Defects: Hefei City 2013-2017

Objective The study aims to investigate the situation about air pollution and birth defects in Hefei city from October 2013 to September 2017.And try to find the association between air pollution and birth defects.Methods Data on maternal,birth defects,meteorological conditions,and air quality in the study period were obtained.Time-series analysis was used to assess the impact of air pollution on birth defects.Results During the study period,totally 114224 cases of perinatal infants were recruited,among which 2533 cases were with birth defects,yielding an incidence of 22.2 per thousand.Main type of birth defects were congenital heart disease accounted for the highest?33.1%?,followed by Outer ear deformity?7.8%?,Polydactylism?6.3%?,Cleft lip with cleft palate?3.9%?,Down syndrome?2.7%?,Congenital hydrocephalus?2.6%?,Shortening of the limbs?2.5%?,Small ear?including no ear??2.3%?,Hypospadias?2.1%?,Syndactylia?1.7%?and so on.The daily mean concentration of SO₂? NO₂ ?PM₁₀ ?PM_2.5 ?O₃ and CO was 18.5?g/m³?36.5?g/m³?99.2?g/m³?72.8?g/m³?72.1?g/m³ and 1.0 mg/m³,respectively.The impact of different air pollutants on birth defects varied.The pollutants of O₃,SO₂,NO₂ and PM_2.5 had strongest impact on the eighth week after pregnancy,every 10 ?g/m³ increase the RR value and 95% CI were 1.0068?1.0026 1.0111?,1.0408?1.0202 1.0618?,1.0202?1.0067 1.0291?and 1.0080?1.0035 1.0125?,respectively.PM₁₀ had strongest impact on the ninth week after pregnancy,every 10 ?g/m³ increase the RR value and 95% CI were 1.0105?1.0044-1.0165?.The risk of SO₂ in cold season and birth defects was significantly greater than that in warm season,while the O₃ risk of birth defects in warm season is significantly greater than in cold season.Conclusion The study found that exposure to ambient air pollutants SO₂,NO₂,PM_2.5,PM₁₀ and O₃ in early pregnancy could increase the risk of birth defects.SO₂ and O₃ had different impact on birth defects in different climates.