Collaborative ECHO research led by Sheena Martenies, PhD, MPH of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign developed a national exposure index for easier analysis of multiple factors at once. This research, titled “Developing a National-Scale Exposure Index for Combined Environmental Hazards and Social Stressors and Applications to the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Cohort,” is published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
There is growing interest in understanding the combined effect of multiple environmental hazards and social stressors on the health and development of children. While there are a number of tools for assessing these factors, they can be limiting when trying to analyze the cumulative effects of various exposures.
In this study, researchers developed a combined exposure index with national coverage that compiled data from several environmental and social indicators during prenatal and early-life periods. The data included variables such as air pollution and neighborhood socioeconomic status and analyzed how combined exposure to several factors during pregnancy may impact health.
The combined exposure index, which facilitated ECHO-wide analyses considering exposures to multiple neighborhood-level hazards and stressors at the same, differed by region. The level of combined exposure was highest in the western and northeastern regions of the United States. Researchers found that pregnant participants who identified as Black and Hispanic were more likely to have higher exposures to hazards compared to White and non-Hispanic participants. Exposure values were also higher for pregnant participants with lower educational attainment.
“Our study results complement those from a previous study that found these combined exposures were associated with a higher risk of adverse birth outcomes for some demographic groups,” Dr. Martenies said. “The results of these studies suggest there is a role for neighborhood quality in healthy pregnancy outcomes. More work is needed to identify interventions that might reduce prenatal exposures and improve pregnancy outcomes.”
Researchers may use this exposure index in future studies to look at how neighborhood features influence child health outcomes. Future studies would benefit from national datasets for key environmental health concerns, such as water contaminants and pesticides, and social stressors that may disproportionally affect certain groups.