BGU researcher Dr. Itai Kloog (pictured), from the Department of Geography and Environmental Development, and his colleagues from the School of Public Health at Harvard University, Steven J. Melly, Prof. Brent A. Coull, Dr. Francesco Nordio, and Prof. Joel D. Schwartz evaluated the relationship between birth outcomes (focusing on birth weight) and ambient Air Temperature during pregnancy in Massachusetts between 2000-2008.
Kloog and his colleagues developed a novel high resolution Air Temperature estimation model to predict daily Air Temperature at a one kilometer resolution. They estimated address level exposure to Air Temperature during various prenatal exposure periods from date of conception through birth for each mother.
The study showed that Air Temperature was associated with decreased birth weights for multiple exposure windows.
“For example,” Kloog says, “an increase of 8.5 °C in the last trimester of average exposure was associated with a 17g decrease in birth weight. We also found that high air temperature during pregnancy can cause preterm birth. To conclude, we found that exposure to high Air Temperature during pregnancy increases the risk of lower birth weight and shorter gestational age.”
The paper, entitled, "Using Satellite-Based Spatiotemporal Resolved Air Temperature Exposure to Study the Association between Ambient Air Temperature and Birth Outcomes in Massachusetts" was published in Environmental Health Perspectives last month.
