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Context: While strong evidence supports adverse effects of pre-natal air pollution on child's lung function, previous studies rarely considered fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) or the potential role of offspring sex and no study examined the effects of pre-natal PM 2.5 on the lung function of the newborn., Aim: We examined overall and sex-specific associations of personal pre-natal exposure to PM 2.5 and nitrogen (NO 2 ) with newborn lung function measurements., Methods: This study relied on 391 mother-child pairs from the French SEPAGES cohort. PM 2.5 and NO 2 exposure was estimated by the average concentration of pollutants measured by sensors carried by the pregnant women during repeated periods of one week. Lung function was assessed with tidal breathing analysis (TBFVL) and nitrogen multiple breath washout (N 2 MBW) test, performed at 7 weeks. Associations between pre-natal exposure to air pollutants and lung function indicators were estimated by linear regression models adjusted for potential confounders, and then stratified by sex., Results: Mean exposure to NO 2 and PM 2.5 during pregnancy was 20.2 μg/m 3 and 14.3 μg/m 3 , respectively. A 10 μg/m 3 increase in PM 2.5 maternal personal exposure during pregnancy was associated with an adjusted 2.5 ml (2.3%) decrease in the functional residual capacity of the newborn (p-value = 0.11). In females, functional residual capacity was decreased by 5.2 ml (5.0%) (p = 0.02) and tidal volume by 1.6 ml (p = 0.08) for each 10 μg/m 3 increase in PM 2.5 . No association was found between maternal NO 2 exposure and newborns lung function., Conclusions: Personal pre-natal PM 2.5 exposure was associated with lower lung volumes in female newborns, but not in males. Our results provide evidence that pulmonary effects of air pollution exposure can be initiated in utero. These findings have long term implications for respiratory health and may provide insights into the underlying mechanisms of PM 2.5 effects., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Prenatal exposure to fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) assessed through its mass concentration has been associated with foetal growth restriction in studies based on outdoor levels. Oxidative potential of PM 2.5 (OP) is an emerging metric a priori relevant to mechanisms of action of PM on health, with very limited evidence to indicate its role on birth outcomes., Objectives: We investigated the association of OP with birth outcomes and compared it with that of PM 2.5 mass concentration., Methods: 405 pregnant women from SEPAGES cohort (Grenoble area) carried PM 2.5 personal dosimeters for one or two one-week periods. OP was measured using dithiothreitol (DTT) and ascorbic acid (AA) assays from the collected filters. Associations of each exposure metric with offspring weight, height, and head circumference at birth were estimated adjusting for potential confounders., Results: The correlation between PM 2.5 mass concentration and [Formula: see text] was 0.7. An interquartile range increase in .. was associated with reduced weight (adjusted change, -64 g, -166 to -11, p = 0.02) and height (-4 mm, -6 to -1, p = 0.01) at birth. PM 2.5 mass concentration showed similar associations with weight (-53 g, -99 to -8, p = 0.02) and height (-2 mm, -5 to 0, p = 0.05). In birth height models mutually adjusted for the two exposure metrics, the association with [Formula: see text] was less attenuated than that with mass concentration, while for weight both effect sizes attenuated similarly. There was no clear evidence of associations with head circumference for any metric, nor for [Formula: see text] with any growth parameter., Impact: PM 2.5 pregnancy exposure assessed from personal dosimeters was associated with altered foetal growth. Personal OP exposure was associated with foetal growth restrictions, specifically decreased weight and height at birth, possibly to a larger extent than PM 2.5 mass concentration alone. These results support OP assessed from DTT as being a health-relevant metric. Larger scale cohort studies are recommended to support our findings., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature America, Inc.)

Background: Fine particulate matter ( PM 2.5 ) has been found to be detrimental to respiratory health of children, but few studies have examined the effects of prenatal PM 2.5 oxidative potential (OP) on lung function in infants and preschool children., Objectives: We estimated the associations of personal exposure to PM 2.5 and OP during pregnancy on offspring objective lung function parameters and compared the strengths of associations between both exposure metrics., Methods: We used data from 356 mother-child pairs from the SEPAGES cohort. PM filters collected twice during a week were analyzed for OP, using the dithiothreitol (DTT) and the ascorbic acid (AA) assays, quantifying the exposure of each pregnant woman. Lung function was assessed with tidal breathing analysis (TBFVL) and nitrogen multiple-breath washout ( N 2 MBW ) test, performed at 6 wk, and airwave oscillometry (AOS) performed at 3 y. Associations of prenatal PM 2.5 mass and OP with lung function parameters were estimated using multiple linear regressions., Results: In neonates, an interquartile (IQR) increase in OP v DTT ( 0.89  nmol / min / m 3 ) was associated with a decrease in functional residual capacity (FRC) measured by N 2 MBW [ β = - 2.26 mL ; 95% confidence interval (CI): - 4.68 , 0.15]. Associations with PM 2.5 showed similar patterns in comparison with OP v DTT but of smaller magnitude. Lung clearance index (LCI) and TBFVL parameters did not show any clear association with the exposures considered. At 3 y, increased frequency-dependent resistance of the lungs ( Rrs 7 - 19 ) from AOS tended to be associated with higher OP v DTT ( β = 0.09  hPa × s / L ; 95% CI: - 0.06 , 0.24) and OP v AA ( IQR = 1.14  nmol / min / m 3 ; β = 0.12  hPa × s / L ; 95% CI: - 0.04 , 0.27) but not with PM 2.5 ( IQR = 6.9   μ g / m 3 ; β = 0.02  hPa × s / L ; 95% CI: - 0.13 , 0.16). Results for FRC and Rrs 7 - 19 remained similar in OP models adjusted on PM 2.5 ., Discussion: Prenatal exposure to OP v DTT was associated with several offspring lung function parameters over time, all related to lung volumes. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP11155.

Background: Frequent car use contributes to health and environmental issues such as air pollution, climate change and obesity. Active and sustainable mobility (bike, walk, public transport, car sharing) may address these issues. Different strategies have been implemented in past research, involving hard levers, aimed at modifying the economical or geographical context (e.g., free public transport), and soft levers, aimed at modifying psychological processes (e.g., personalised transport advice). However, few studies have combined both hard and soft levers. In addition, few have used robust methodologies (e.g., randomised controlled trials), followed behavioural changes in the long-term, and been anchored in behaviour change theories. InterMob aims to address these limits by implementing a 24-month randomised controlled trial including hard and soft levers. The objectives of InterMob are to a) evaluate the effectiveness of an experimental arm versus an active controlled arm, and b) identify the processes of mobility change., Methods: Regular car users living in Grenoble (N = 300) will be recruited and randomised to one of the two arms. The experimental arm consists in a six-month intervention combining hard levers (free access to transport/bikes), and soft levers (e.g., personalised transport advice). The control arm consists in a six-month intervention aimed at raising awareness on air pollution and its health effects. Both arms will include eight evaluation weeks (spread out over 24 months) based on a GPS, an accelerometer, and a pollution sensor. Moreover, participants will complete mobility logbooks and surveys measuring psychological constructs, socio-economical, and socio-spatial characteristics., Discussion: InterMob will assess the effectiveness of two interventions aimed at reducing car use within regular car users in the short-, mid- and long-term. Moreover, InterMob will allow to better understand the psychological processes of behaviour change, and the socio-economical and geographical conditions under which the intervention is efficient in reducing car use. Finally, the benefits of mobility change in terms of physical activity, quality of life, and exposure to pollution will be quantified., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov : NCT05096000 on 27/10/2021 (retrospectively registered)., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

In humans, studies based on Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) concept and targeting short half-lived chemicals, including many endocrine disruptors, generally assessed exposures from spot biospecimens. Effects of early-life exposure to atmospheric pollutants were reported, based on outdoor air pollution levels. For both exposure families, exposure misclassification is expected from these designs: for non-persistent chemicals, because a spot biospecimen is unlikely to capture exposure over windows longer than a few days; for air pollutants, because indoor levels are ignored. We developed a couple-child cohort relying on deep phenotyping and extended personal exposure assessment aiming to better characterize the effects of components of the exposome, including air pollutants and non-persistent endocrine disruptors, on child health and development. Pregnant women were included in SEPAGES couple-child cohort (Grenoble area) from 2014 to 2017. Maternal and children exposure to air pollutants was repeatedly assessed by personal monitors. DNA, RNA, serum, plasma, placenta, cord blood, meconium, child and mother stools, living cells, milk, hair and repeated urine samples were collected. A total of 484 pregnant women were recruited, with excellent compliance to the repeated urine sampling protocol (median, 43 urine samples per woman during pregnancy). The main health outcomes are child respiratory health using early objective measures, growth and neurodevelopment. Compared to former studies, the accuracy of assessment of non-persistent exposures is expected to be strongly improved in this new type of birth cohort tailored for the exposome concept, with deep phenotyping and extended exposure characterization. By targeting weaknesses in exposure assessment of the current approaches of cohorts on effects of early life environmental exposures with strong temporal variations, and relying on a rich biobank to provide insight on the underlying biological pathways whereby exposures affect health, this design is expected to provide deeper understanding of the interplay between the Exposome and child development and health.

The human exposome affects child development and health later in life, but its personal external levels, variability, and correlations are largely unknown. We characterized the personal external exposome of pregnant women and children in eight European cities. Panel studies included 167 pregnant women and 183 children (aged 6-11 years). A personal exposure monitoring kit composed of smartphone, accelerometer, ultraviolet (UV) dosimeter, and two air pollution monitors were used to monitor physical activity (PA), fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ), black carbon, traffic-related noise, UV-B radiation, and natural outdoor environments (NOE). 77% of women performed the adult recommendation of ≥150 min/week of moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA), while only 3% of children achieved the childhood recommendation of ≥60 min/day MVPA. 11% of women and 17% of children were exposed to daily PM 2.5 levels higher than recommended (≥25μg/m 3 ). Mean exposure to noise ranged from Lden 51.1 dB in Kaunas to Lden 65.2 dB in Barcelona. 4% of women and 23% of children exceeded the recommended maximum of 2 Standard-Erythemal-Dose of UV-B at least once a week. 33% of women and 43% of children never reached the minimum NOE contact recommendation of ≥30 min/week. The variations in air and noise pollution exposure were dominated by between-city variability, while most of the variation observed for NOE contact and PA was between-participants. The correlations between all personal exposures ranged from very low to low (Rho < 0.30). The levels of personal external exposures in both pregnant women and children are above the health recommendations, and there is little correlation between the different exposures. The assessment of the personal external exposome is feasible but sampling requires from one day to more than one year depending on exposure due to high variability between and within cities and participants., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)