A cross-sectional examination of the early-onset hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and industrial emissions of toxic metals using Kentucky birth records, 2008-2017

• Published in: PloS one 2022-09, Vol.17 (9), p.e0274250
• Main Authors: Walker, Courtney J, Christian, W Jay, Kucharska-Newton, Anna, Browning, Steven R
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aerosol concentrations; Age; Arsenic; Arsenic - analysis; Biology and Life Sciences; Birth; Birth Certificates; Births; Cadmium; Cadmium - analysis; Cadmium - toxicity; Cardiovascular disease; Chemicals; Chromium; Chromium - analysis; Cross-Sectional Studies; Degassing of metals; Diagnosis; Disorders; Economic indicators; Emissions; Environmental indicators; Environmental protection; Etidronic Acid; Exposure; Female; Health aspects; Health risks; Heavy Metal Poisoning; Heavy metals; Humans; Hypertension; Hypertension in pregnancy; Hypertension, Pregnancy-Induced; Industrial emissions; Industrial plant emissions; Kentucky - epidemiology; Lead; Lead - analysis; Medicine and Health Sciences; Mercury; Mercury (metal); Mercury - analysis; Mercury - toxicity; Metals; Metals, Heavy - analysis; Mothers; Obesity; People and places; Physical Sciences; Pregnancy; Pregnant women; Research and Analysis Methods; Risk factors; Selenium; Selenium - analysis; Sociodemographics; Stillbirth; Womens health; Zinc - analysis
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0274250

This cross-sectional study assessed geospatial patterns of early-onset hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (eHDP) in primiparous mothers and exposure to industrial emissions using geocoded residential information from Kentucky live (N = 210,804) and still (N = 1,247) birth records (2008-2017) and census block group estimates of aerosol concentrations of arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), selenium (Se), and zinc (Zi) from the Risk Screening Environmental Indicators (RSEI) model. A latent class analysis allowed for the identification of four district exposure classes-As, Cd, and Pb (12.6%); Se and Zi (21.4%); Pb and Cr (8%); and low or no exposures (57.9%). Women classified as having a high probability of exposure to both Pb and Cr had a statistically significantly greater prevalence of eHDP after adjusting for demographic factors (aPR = 1.22, 95% CI: 1.04, 1.44) relative to those with low or no exposure. Our findings contribute to the emerging literature on the association of metal exposures with pregnancy outcomes.