A protocol for estimating health burden posed by early life exposure to ambient fine particulate matter and its heavy metal composition: a mother–child birth (ELitE) cohort from Central India

Pregnant women and children are vulnerable to air pollution-related adverse health effects, especially those residing in low-resource and high-exposure settings like India. However, evidence regarding the effects of early-life exposure to air particulate matter (PM) on childhood growth/developmental...

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Published in:Frontiers in public health Vol. 13; p. 1485417
Main Authors: Trushna, Tanwi, Yadav, Vikas, Mandal, Uday Kumar, Diwan, Vishal, Tiwari, Rajnarayan R., Ahirwar, Rajesh, Raj, Dharma, Rana, Sindhuprava, Surve, Suchitra Vishwambhar, Dey, Sagnik, Sabde, Yogesh Damodar
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Switzerland Frontiers Media S.A 2025
Subjects:
acute respiratory infection
Air Pollutants - adverse effects
Air Pollutants - analysis
air pollution
Air Pollution - adverse effects
Air Pollution - analysis
Birth Cohort
child development
Cohort Studies
Cost of Illness
Environmental Monitoring - methods
Environmental Monitoring - statistics & numerical data
Epidemiologic Research Design
Female
growth
heavy metals
Humans
India - epidemiology
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Male
Maternal Exposure - adverse effects
Maternal Exposure - statistics & numerical data
Metals, Heavy - adverse effects
Particulate Matter - adverse effects
Particulate Matter - analysis
Pregnancy
Pregnancy Outcome - epidemiology
Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects - epidemiology
Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects - etiology
Public Health
Respiratory Tract Infections - epidemiology
Respiratory Tract Infections - etiology
India
particulate matter
birth cohort
heavy metals
child development
air pollution
growth
acute respiratory infection
India
ISSN:2296-2565, 2296-2565
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Summary:Pregnant women and children are vulnerable to air pollution-related adverse health effects, especially those residing in low-resource and high-exposure settings like India. However, evidence regarding the effects of early-life exposure to air particulate matter (PM) on childhood growth/developmental trajectory is contradictory; evidence about specific constituents of PM, like heavy metals, is limited. Similarly, there are few Indian cohorts investigating PM exposure and the incidence of acute respiratory infection during infancy. This study protocol aims to fill these critical gaps in knowledge. We aim to establish a mother-child birth cohort through the enrolment of 1,566 pregnant women residing in two urban areas of central India. Antenatally, we will collect socioeconomic, demographic, and clinical information and details of confounding variables from these pregnant women, who will then be followed up until childbirth to assess their exposure to air PM. Biomonitoring will also be conducted to evaluate heavy metal exposure. At birth, pregnancy outcomes will be noted, followed by postnatal follow-up of live-born children until the first year of life to assess their achievement of growth/development milestones and exposure to pollutants. We will also estimate the incidence of Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI) during infancy. This manuscript describes the protocol for an Indian mother-child air pollution birth cohort study that aims to generate comprehensive evidence regarding the adverse effects of early-life (i.e., both pre- and post-natal) exposure to air PM and its constituent heavy metals among Indian children. This study will provide an epidemiological basis for further understanding in this context. Finally, by reporting our carefully planned study methods/outcome measures, which are comparable to those of published and ongoing birth cohorts, we aim to serve as the starting point for similar cohorts in the future, which, when considered together, would generate enough evidence to facilitate context-specific policy-making and development of appropriate prevention and mitigation strategies.
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Edited by: Lihua Ren, Peking University, China
Reviewed by: Laura Reali, Italian National Health System, Italy
Kathleen Marion Baird, University of Technology Sydney, Australia
ISSN:2296-2565
2296-2565
DOI:10.3389/fpubh.2025.1485417