Surrounding Greenness and Exposure to Air Pollution During Pregnancy: An Analysis of Personal Monitoring Data

Background: Green spaces are reported to improve health status, including beneficial effects on pregnancy outcomes. Despite the suggestions of air pollution–related health benefits of green spaces, there is no available evidence on the impact of greenness on personal exposure to air pollution. Objectives: We investigated the association between surrounding greenness and personal exposure to air pollution among pregnant women and to explore the potential mechanisms, if any, behind this association. Methods: In total, 65 rounds of sampling were carried out for 54 pregnant women who resided in Barcelona during 2008–2009. Each round consisted of a 2-day measurement of particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤ 2.5 μm (PM2.5) and a 1-week measurement of nitric oxides collected simultaneously at both the personal and microenvironmental levels. The study participants were also asked to fill out a time–microenvironment–activity diary during the sampling period. We used satellite retrievals to determine the surrounding greenness as the average of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) in a buffer of 100 m around each maternal residential address. We estimated the impact of surrounding greenness on personal exposure levels, home-outdoor and home-indoor pollutant levels, and maternal time-activity. Results: Higher residential surrounding greenness was associated with lower personal, home-indoor, and home-outdoor PM2.5 levels, and more time spent at home-outdoor. Conclusions: We found lower levels of personal exposure to air pollution among pregnant women residing in greener areas. This finding may be partly explained by lower home-indoor pollutant levels and more time spent in less polluted home-outdoor environment by pregnant women in greener areas

Green spaces and child health and development.

The ongoing urbanisation worldwide has led to an increasing number of children living in urban areas. Urban children, compared to children from rural areas, are generally exposed to higher levels of a number of environmental hazards such as air pollution, noise and heat, and have limited access to natural environments, including green spaces. At the same time, urban lifestyle is predominantly associated with lower levels of physical activity and higher exposure to crime and psychological stress. Contact with green spaces, on the other hand, is thought to have a defining role in human brain development. An accumulating body of evidence has also associated such contact with improved mental and physical health in children. This chapter aims to present a synopsis of the current state-of-the-art of research linking green space and child health and development. Towards this aim, we (1) elaborate on potential mechanisms underlying health effects of green spaces, (2) highlight the importance of prenatal and postnatal periods as windows of vulnerability, and (3) provide an overview of the available evidence on effects of green spaces on (a) pregnancy outcomes, (b) brain development including structural brain development, as well as behavioural and cognitive development, (c) respiratory and allergic conditions, and (d) cardiometabolic risk factors