1:00pm - 2:00pm (CDT) | 2024.0 - Residential proximity to oil and gas development and gestational diabetes risk in a North American preconception cohort.
EH Poster Session 6: Household and Family Environmental Health
Session: EH Poster Session 6: Household and Family Environmental Health
Program: Environment
Author: Nicole Deziel, PhD
Abstract
Background
About 5% of the U.S. population resides within 1.6 km of active oil and gas development. Oil and gas development produces pollution including reproductive toxicants and endocrine disruptors (e.g., particulate matter, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds). Despite well-documented associations between residential proximity to oil and gas development and adverse birth outcomes, no study has examined gestational diabetes, a condition with long-term consequences for maternal-infant health.
Methods
We examined associations between residential proximity to active oil and gas development during the preconception period and gestational diabetes risk using data from Pregnancy Study Online (PRESTO), an Internet-based cohort study of U.S. and Canadian residents. We used participants’ preconception residential addresses to calculate proximity to the nearest active oil or gas development site. Among participants whose pregnancy progressed ≥28 weeks gestation, we collected data on diagnoses of gestational diabetes from self-administered questionnaires (completed in late pregnancy and postpartum) and birth records. We implemented log-binomial regression to estimate risk ratios (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), adjusting for age, year, and geographic region, and stratifying by pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI).
Results
Among 6,340 pregnant participants (8.32% prevalence of gestational diabetes), preconception residence within 5 km from active oil and gas development was positively associated with gestational diabetes (RR=1.28, (95% CI: 1.00, 1.62), compared with ≥20 km from active oil and gas development. When stratified by pre-pregnancy BMI ≤25 kg/m2 (n=3,246), 25-29 kg/m2 (n=1,590), and ≥30 kg/m2 (n=1,494), RRs for preconception residence <5 km (vs. ≥ 20 km) from oil and gas development were 1.02 (95% CI: 0.63, 1.63), 1.22 (95% CI: 0.72, 2.08) and 1.45 (95% CI: 1.06, 1.98), respectively.
Conclusion
Preliminary results suggest that residential proximity to oil and gas development during the preconception period is modestly associated with gestational diabetes, with some evidence that pre-pregnancy BMI modifies this association.