Comparison between air pollution concentrations measured at the nearest monitoring station to the delivery hospital and those measured at stations nearest the residential postal code regions of pregnant women in Fukuoka

摘要

BackgroundNumerous earlier studies examining the association of air pollution with maternal and foetal health estimated maternal exposure to air pollutants based on the women’s residential addresses. However, residential addresses, which are personally identifiable information, are not always obtainable. Since a majority of pregnant women reside near their delivery hospitals, the concentrations of air pollutants at the respective delivery hospitals may be surrogate markers of pollutant exposure at home. We compared air pollutant concentrations measured at the nearest monitoring station to Kyushu University Hospital with those measured at the closest monitoring stations to the respective residential postal code regions of pregnant women in Fukuoka.