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Maternal residential proximity to unconventional gas development and perinatal outcomes among a diverse urban population in Texas.

ABSTRACT: To assess associations between unconventional natural gas development (UGD) and perinatal outcomes.We conducted a retrospective birth cohort study among 158,894 women with a birth or fetal death from November 30, 2010-November 29, 2012 in the Barnett Shale, in North Texas. We constructed three UGD-activity metrics by calculating the inverse distance-weighted sum of active wells within three separate geographic buffers surrounding the maternal residence: ?½, 2, or 10-miles. We excluded women if the nearest well to her residence was >20 miles. Metrics were categorized by tertiles among women with ?1 well within the respective buffer; women with zero wells ?10 miles (the largest buffer) served as a common referent group. We used logistic or linear regression with generalized estimating equations to assess associations between UGD-activity and preterm birth, small-for-gestational age (SGA), fetal death, or birthweight. Adjusted models of fetal death and birthweight included: maternal age, race/ethnicity, education, pre-pregnancy body mass index, parity, smoking, adequacy of prenatal care, previous poor pregnancy outcome, and infant sex. Preterm birth models included all of the above except parity; SGA models included all of the above except previous poor pregnancy outcome.We found increased adjusted odds of preterm birth associated with UGD-activity in the highest tertiles of the ½- (odds ratio (OR) = 1.14; 95% confidence interval 1.03, 1.25), 2- (1.14; 1.07, 1.22), and 10-mile (1.15; 1.08, 1.22) metrics. Increased adjusted odds of fetal death were found in the second tertile of the 2-mile metric (1.56; 1.16, 2.11) and the highest tertile of the 10-mile metric (1.34; 1.04-1.72). We found little indication of an association with SGA or term birthweight.Our results are suggestive of an association between maternal residential proximity to UGD-activity and preterm birth and fetal death. Quantifying chemical and non-chemical stressors among residents near UGD should be prioritized.

SUBMITTER: Whitworth KW

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5522007 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Maternal residential proximity to unconventional gas development and perinatal outcomes among a diverse urban population in Texas.

Whitworth Kristina W KW Marshall Amanda K AK Symanski Elaine E

PloS one 20170721 7

<h4>Objective</h4>To assess associations between unconventional natural gas development (UGD) and perinatal outcomes.<h4>Methods</h4>We conducted a retrospective birth cohort study among 158,894 women with a birth or fetal death from November 30, 2010-November 29, 2012 in the Barnett Shale, in North Texas. We constructed three UGD-activity metrics by calculating the inverse distance-weighted sum of active wells within three separate geographic buffers surrounding the maternal residence: ≤½, 2, o ...[more]

PMID: 28732016

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Project description:BackgroundChemicals used or emitted by unconventional oil and gas development (UOGD) include reproductive/developmental toxicants. Associations between UOGD and certain birth defects were reported in a few studies, with none conducted in Ohio, which experienced a thirty-fold increase in natural gas production between 2010 and 2020.MethodsWe conducted a registry-based cohort study of 965,236 live births in Ohio from 2010 to 2017. Birth defects were identified in 4653 individuals using state birth records and a state surveillance system. We assigned UOGD exposure based on maternal residential proximity at birth to active UOG wells and a metric specific to the drinking-water exposure pathway that identified UOG wells hydrologically connected to a residence ("upgradient UOG wells"). We estimated odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for all structural birth defects combined and specific birth defect types using binary exposure metrics (presence/absence of any UOG well and presence/absence of an upgradient UOG well within 10 km), adjusting for confounders. Additionally, we conducted analyses stratified by urbanicity, infant sex, and social vulnerability.ResultsThe odds of any structural defect were 1.13 times higher in children born to mothers living within 10 km of UOGD than those born to unexposed mothers (95%CI: 0.98-1.30). Odds were elevated for neural tube defects (OR: 1.57, 95%CI: 1.12-2.19), limb reduction defects (OR: 1.99, 95%CI: 1.18-3.35), and spina bifida (OR 1.93; 95%CI 1.25-2.98). Hypospadias (males only) was inversely related to UOGD exposure (OR: 0.62, 95%CI: 0.43-0.91). Odds of any structural defect were greater in magnitude but less precise in analyses using the hydrological-specific metric (OR: 1.30; 95%CI: 0.85-1.90), in areas with high social vulnerability (OR: 1.27, 95%CI: 0.99-1.60), and among female offspring (OR: 1.28, 95%CI: 1.06-1.53).ConclusionsOur results suggest a positive association between UOGD and certain birth defects, and findings for neural tube defects corroborate results from prior studies.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Prior studies suggest exposure to oil and gas development (OGD) adversely affects birth outcomes, but no studies have examined flaring-the open combustion of natural gas-from OGD. OBJECTIVES:We investigated whether residential proximity to flaring from OGD was associated with shorter gestation and reduced fetal growth in the Eagle Ford Shale of south Texas. METHODS:We conducted a retrospective cohort study using administrative birth records from 2012 to 2015 (N=23,487) and satellite observations of flaring activity during pregnancy within 5km of maternal residence. Multivariate logistic and linear regression models were used to estimate associations between four outcomes (preterm birth, small-for-gestational age, continuous gestational age, and term birthweight) and exposure to a low (1-9) or high (?10) number of nightly flare events, as compared with no exposure, while controlling for known maternal risk factors. We also examined associations with the number of oil and gas wells within 5km using data from DrillingInfo (now Enverus). RESULTS:Exposure to a high number of nightly flare events was associated with a 50% higher odds of preterm birth [odds ratio (OR)=1.50 (95% CI: 1.23, 1.83)] and shorter gestation [mean difference=-1.9 (95% CI: -2.8, -0.9) d] compared with no exposure. Effect estimates were slightly reduced after adjustment for the number of wells within 5km. In stratified models these associations were present only among Hispanic women. Flaring and fetal growth outcomes were not significantly associated. Women exposed to a high number of wells (fourth quartile, ?27) vs. no wells within 5km had a higher odds of preterm birth [OR=1.31 (95% CI: 1.14, 1.49)], shorter gestation [-1.3 (95% CI: -1.9, -0.8) d], and lower average birthweight [-19.4 (95% CI: -36.7, -2.0) g]. DISCUSSION:Our study suggests exposure to flaring from OGD is associated with an increased risk of preterm birth. Our findings need to be confirmed in other populations. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP6394.

Project description:BackgroundOil and gas development emits known hematological carcinogens, such as benzene, and increasingly occurs in residential areas. We explored whether residential proximity to oil and gas development was associated with risk for hematologic cancers using a registry-based case-control study design.MethodsParticipants were 0-24 years old, living in rural Colorado, and diagnosed with cancer between 2001-2013. For each child in our study, we calculated inverse distance weighted (IDW) oil and gas well counts within a 16.1-kilometer radius of residence at cancer diagnosis for each year in a 10 year latency period to estimate density of oil and gas development. Logistic regression, adjusted for age, race, gender, income, and elevation was used to estimate associations across IDW well count tertiles for 87 acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) cases and 50 non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) cases, compared to 528 controls with non-hematologic cancers.FindingsOverall, ALL cases 0-24 years old were more likely to live in the highest IDW well count tertiles compared to controls, but findings differed substantially by age. For ages 5-24, ALL cases were 4.3 times as likely to live in the highest tertile, compared to controls (95% CI: 1.1 to 16), with a monotonic increase in risk across tertiles (trend p-value = 0.035). Further adjustment for year of diagnosis increased the association. No association was found between ALL for children aged 0-4 years or NHL and IDW well counts. While our study benefited from the ability to select cases and controls from the same population, use of cancer-controls, the limited number of ALL and NHL cases, and aggregation of ages into five year ranges, may have biased our associations toward the null. In addition, absence of information on O&G well activities, meteorology, and topography likely reduced temporal and spatial specificity in IDW well counts.ConclusionBecause oil and gas development has potential to expose a large population to known hematologic carcinogens, further study is clearly needed to substantiate both our positive and negative findings. Future studies should incorporate information on oil and gas development activities and production levels, as well as levels of specific pollutants of interest (e.g. benzene) near homes, schools, and day care centers; provide age-specific residential histories; compare cases to controls without cancer; and address other potential confounders, and environmental stressors.

Project description:BackgroundOil and natural gas extraction may produce environmental pollution at levels that affect reproductive health of nearby populations. Available studies have primarily focused on unconventional gas drilling and have not accounted for local population changes that can coincide with drilling activity.ObjectiveOur study sought to examine associations between residential proximity to oil and gas drilling and adverse term birth outcomes using a difference-in-differences study design.MethodsWe created a retrospective population-based term birth cohort in Texas between 1996 and 2009 composed of mother-infant dyads (n=2,598,025) living <10km from an oil or gas site. We implemented a difference-in-differences approach to estimate associations between drilling activities and infant health: term birth weight and term small for gestational age (SGA). Using linear and logistic regression, we modeled interactions between births before (unexposed) or during (exposed) drilling activity and residential proximity near (0-1, 1-2, or 2-3km) or far (3-10km) from an active or future drilling site, adjusting for individual- and neighborhood-level characteristics.ResultsThe adjusted mean difference in term birth weight for mothers living 0-1 vs. 3-10km from a current or future drilling site was -7.3g [95% confidence interval (CI): -11.6, -3.0] for births during active vs. future drilling. The corresponding adjusted odds ratio for SGA was 1.02 (95% CI: 0.98, 1.06). Negative associations with term birth weight were observed for the 1-2 and 2-3km near groups, and no consistent differences were identified by type of drilling activity. Larger, though imprecise, adverse associations were found for infants born to Hispanic women, women with the lowest educational attainment, and women living in cities.ConclusionsResiding near oil and gas drilling sites during pregnancy was associated with a small reduction in term birth weight but not SGA, with some evidence of environmental injustices. Additional work is needed to investigate specific drilling-related exposures that might explain these associations. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP7678.

Dataset Information

Maternal residential proximity to unconventional gas development and perinatal outcomes among a diverse urban population in Texas.

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Maternal residential proximity to unconventional gas development and perinatal outcomes among a diverse urban population in Texas.

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