Trimester effects of source-specific PM10 on birth weight outcomes in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC)

Background Evidence suggests that exposure to particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter less than 10 μm (PM10) is associated with reduced birth weight, but information is limited on the sources of PM10 and exposure misclassification from assigning exposures to place of residence at birth. Methods Trimester and source-specific PM10 exposures (PM10 from road source, local non-road source, and total source) in pregnancy were estimated using dispersion models and a full maternal residential history for 12,020 births from the Avon longitudinal study of parents and children (ALSPAC) cohort in 1990–1992 in the Bristol area. Information on birth outcomes were obtained from birth records. Maternal sociodemographic and lifestyle factors were obtained from questionnaires. We used linear regression models for continuous outcomes (birth weight, head circumference (HC), and birth length (BL) and logistic regression models for binary outcomes (preterm birth (PTB), term low birth weight (TLBW) and small for gestational age (SGA)). Sensitivity analysis was performed using multiple imputation for missing covariate data. Results After adjustment, interquartile range increases in source specific PM10 from traffic were associated with 17 to 18% increased odds of TLBW in all pregnancy periods. We also found odds of TLBW increased by 40% (OR: 1.40, 95%CI: 1.12, 1.75) and odds of SGA increased by 18% (OR: 1.18, 95%CI: 1.05, 1.32) per IQR (6.54 μg/m3) increase of total PM10 exposure in the third trimester. Conclusion This study adds to evidence that maternal PM10 exposures affect birth weight, with particular concern in relation to exposures to PM10 from road transport sources; results for total PM10 suggest greatest effect in the third trimester. Effect size estimates relate to exposures in the 1990s and are higher than those for recent studies – this may relate to reduced exposure misclassification through use of full residential history information, changes in air pollution toxicity over time and/or residual confounding.

Domesticity and Social Life

This chapter considers domesticity and social life within two “houses”: the fair’s Ohio Building and the Charnley House. It begins with an overview of American ideologies of domesticity and domestic spaces through historical and archaeological accounts. Next discussion moves to the Ohio Building, a small structure from the fair that operated as a sort of clubhouse for tourists. Many conceived of the fair’s quasi-domestic state buildings as domestic because of their non-monumental scale, their intended use as spaces for informal social life, and the cutting-edge sanitary infrastructure, such as toilets, that tourists could experience within them. The chapter turns to a detailed residential history of the Astor Street home, to reveal further interconnections and entanglements of elite social networks in Chicago. Adding to these experiences, a look at the limited documentary record of servants from the Charnley House and the Ohio Building expands upon domestic life, architecturally, materially, and socially.