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Luiz A.A. Pereira,¹ Dana Loomis,² Gleice M.S. Conceição,¹ Alfésio L.F. Braga,¹ Rosângela M. Arcas,¹ Humberto S. Kishi,¹ Júlio M. Singer,³ György M. Böhm,¹ and Paulo H.N. Saldiva¹

¹Laboratório de Poluição Atmosférica Experimental, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brasil
²Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7400 USA
³Departamento de EstatÌstica, Instituto de Matemática e Estatística, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brasil

Abstract

The associations among daily counts of intrauterine mortality and pollutant concentrations (NO₂, SO₂, CO, O₃, and particulate matter 10 µm) were investigated for the period ranging from January 1991 to December 1992 in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. We used Poisson regression techniques, adjusted for season and weather. The association between intrauterine mortality and air pollution was strong for NO₂ (coefficient = 0.0013/µg/m³ ; p<0.01) but lesser for SO₂ (coefficient = 0.0005/µg/m³ ; p<0.10) and CO (coefficient = 0.0223/ppm ; p<0.10) . A significant association was observed when an index that combined these three pollutants was considered in the models instead of considering each pollutant individually (p<0.01) . These associations exhibited a short time lag, not over 5 days. In addition, some evidence of fetal exposure to air pollution was obtained by disclosing a significant association between the levels of carboxyhemoglobin of blood sampled from the umbilical cord and ambient CO levels in children delivered by nonsmoking pregnant women in the period from May to July 1995. Our results suggest that air pollution in São Paulo may promote adverse health effects on fetuses. Key words: air pollution, carboxyhemoglobin, fetus environmental exposure, intrauterine mortality. Environ Health Perspect 106:325-329 (1998) . [Online 5 May 1998]

http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/1998/106p325-329pereira/ abstract.html

Address correspondence to P.H.N. Saldiva, Laboratório de Poluição Atmosférica Experimental, Experimental, Departamento de Patologia, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Dr. Arnaldo 455 cep: 01246-903, São Paulo, Sp, Brasil.

This work was supported by the following Brazilian institutions: Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, and Laboratório de Investigação Médica-Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo. Special thanks to Programa de Aprimoramento das Informações de Mortalidade no Município de São Paulo, Prefeitura do Município de São Paulo, Serviço Técnico de Toxicologia Forense do Instituto Médico Legal, and Secretaria de Segurança Pública do Estado de São Paulo.

Received 12 November 1997 ; accepted 18 February 1998.