ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Effects of Air Pollution on Blood Pressure
of Pregnant Women
Aleksandra Stanković, Maja Nikolić, Mirjana Arandjelović
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Medical faculty University of Niš, Vojvode Tankosica 9/61, 18000 Nis, Serbia
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2012;21(2):465-469
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
The aim of our study is to evaluate effects on blood pressure of pregnant women exposed to air pollution.
The subjects were 654 pregnant women, aged 25-40 years, living for more than five years in the same
home. The exposed group of pregnant women (n=348) live in an urban area with a high level of air pollution,
while the pregnant women (n=306) in the comparison group, designed as a non-exposed group, live in an area
with a lower level of air pollution. The air concentrations of black smoke, sulfur dioxide, and lead in sediment
matter were determined in the period from 2004 to 2008. The diagnosis of high blood pressure is made using
pre-defined criteria. No effect of air pollution exposure on pregnancy-induced hypertension was found in multivariate
logistic regression analysis (p>0.05; 95% CI: 0.937-2.219). However, further research using more rigorous
measures of exposure to air pollution as well as additional measures of blood pressure in pregnancy are
needed to confirm the relationships.