Industrial Developmental Toxicants and Congenital Heart Disease in Urban and Rural Alberta, Canada

Deliwe P. Ngwezi, Lisa K. Hornberger, Jesus Serrano-Lomelin, Charlene C. Nielsen, Deborah Fruitman and Alvaro Osornio-Vargas
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Deliwe P. Ngwezi: Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Fetal and Neonatal Cardiology Program, Department of Pediatrics, Stollery Children’s Hospital, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2B7, Canada
Lisa K. Hornberger: Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Fetal and Neonatal Cardiology Program, Department of Pediatrics, Stollery Children’s Hospital, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2B7, Canada
Jesus Serrano-Lomelin: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R7, Canada
Charlene C. Nielsen: Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E3, Canada
Deborah Fruitman: Section of Pediatric Cardiology, Department of Pediatrics, Alberta Children’s Hospital, University of Calgary, AB T3B 6A8, Canada
Alvaro Osornio-Vargas: Women and Children’s Health Research Institute, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 1C9, Canada

Challenges, 2018, vol. 9, issue 2, 1-16

Abstract: The etiology of congenital heart defects (CHD) is not known for many affected patients. In the present study, we examined the association between industrial emissions and CHD in urban and rural Alberta. We acquired the emissions data reported in the Canadian National Pollutant Release Inventory ( n = 18) and identified CHD patients born in Alberta from 2003–2010 ( n = 2413). We identified three groups of emissions after principal component analysis: Groups 1, 2, and 3. The distribution of exposure to the postal codes with births was determined using an inverse distance weighted approach. Poisson or negative binomial regression models helped estimate associations (relative risk (RR), 95% Confidence Intervals (CI)) adjusted for socioeconomic status and two criteria pollutants: nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter with a mean aerodynamic diameter of ≤2.5 micrometers. The adjusted RR in urban settings was 1.8 (95% CI: 1.5, 2.3) for Group 1 and 1.4 (95% CI: 1.3, 1.6) for both Groups 2 and 3. In rural postal codes, Groups 1 and 3 emissions had a RR of 2.6 (95% CI: 1.03, 7). Associations were only observed in postal codes with the highest levels of emissions and maps demonstrated that regions with very high exposures were sparse.

Keywords: congenital heart disease; developmental toxicants; air pollution; industrial emissions; planetary health; National Pollutant Release Inventory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A00 C00 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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