Kangwon National University Hospital “Ozone exposure in early pregnancy predicts risk of fetal growth slowdown”

Analysis of 4,274 pairs of mothers and newborns... Ultrafine dust and fine dust also have an impact

(Chuncheon = Yonhap News) Reporter Kang Tae-hyun = Research has shown that ozone exposure in early pregnancy is a major factor predicting the risk of fetal growth slowdown.

The research team of Kangwon National University Hospital's Environmental Health Center and Pediatrics and Adolescents Professor Jo Ki-hyeon announced on the 27th that they confirmed these results by analyzing data from 4,274 pairs of mothers and newborns.

The research team used data from the Children's Environmental Health Birth Cohort (Ko-CHENS) to analyze the relationship between exposure levels to major air pollutants such as ozone, ultrafine dust, and fine dust and fetal growth.

They estimated the level of exposure to air pollution by maternal residence using statistical techniques and used machine learning to compare the performance of predicting fetal growth slowdown by pregnancy period.

As a result, ozone exposure during the first 1 to 13 weeks of pregnancy showed the highest importance in predicting low birth weight for gestational age (SGA). Ultrafine dust and fine dust were also found to be major related factors.

The accuracy of the prediction model using early pregnancy data was 91.97%, which was higher than the mid-pregnancy model (88.27%) and the entire pregnancy period model (89.73%).

It was analyzed that exposure to ozone and fine dust even after 28 weeks, the latter part of pregnancy, has a negative effect on fetal growth.

Kim Woo-jin, director of the Environmental Health Center, said, "This study shows that information on exposure to air pollution in early pregnancy is important in predicting the risk of fetal growth slowdown. We hope that it will be used as basic data to develop customized environmental health policies and health management guidelines for pregnant women."