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Original research
Redlining in New York City: impacts on particulate matter exposure during pregnancy and birth outcomes
  1. Teresa Herrera1,
  2. Eunsil Seok1,
  3. Whitney Cowell1,2,
  4. Eric Brown Jr3,
  5. Sheryl Magzamen4,
  6. Ako Adams Ako5,
  7. Rosalind J Wright6,
  8. Leonardo Trasande1,2,
  9. Robin Ortiz1,2,
  10. Annemarie Stroustrup7,
  11. Akhgar Ghassabian1,2
  1. 1 Department of Population Health, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA
  2. 2 Department of Pediatrics, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA
  3. 3 Department of Environmental Sciences & Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
  4. 4 Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
  5. 5 Montefiore Health System, Bronx, New York, USA
  6. 6 Department of Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
  7. 7 Northwell Health, New Hyde Park, New York, USA
  1. Correspondence to Teresa Herrera, Department of Population Health, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, New York 10016, USA; Maria.Herrera2{at}nyulangone.org

Abstract

Background Evidence suggests historical redlining shaped the built environment and health outcomes in urban areas. Only a handful of studies have examined redlining’s association with air pollution and adverse birth outcomes in New York City (NYC). Additionally, no NYC-specific studies have examined the impact of redlining on birth weight.

Methods This longitudinal cohort study analysed data from the National Institute of Health Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes Programme to investigate the extent to which maternal residence in a historically redlined neighbourhood is associated with fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposure during pregnancy using multivariable regression models. Additionally, we examined how maternal residence in a historically redlined neighbourhood during pregnancy influenced birth weight z-score, preterm birth and low birth weight.

Results Our air pollution model showed that living in a historically redlined census tract or an ungraded census tract was associated with increased PM2.5 exposure during pregnancy. We also found living in a historically redlined census tract or an ungraded census tract was associated with a lower birth weight z-score. This finding remained significant when controlling for individual and census tract-level race, ethnicity and income. When we controlled PM2.5 in our models assessing the relationship between redlining grade and birth outcome, our results did not change.

Discussion Our study supports the literature linking redlining to contemporary outcomes. However, our research in ungraded tracts suggests redlining alone is insufficient to fully explain inequality in birth outcomes and PM2.5 levels today.

  • AIR POLLUTION
  • BIRTH WEIGHT
  • ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
  • MATERNAL HEALTH

Data availability statement

No data are available. Select deidentified data from the ECHO Programme are available through NICHD’s Data and Specimen Hub (DASH). Information on study data not available on DASH, such as some Indigenous datasets, can be found on the ECHO study DASH webpage. Additionally, it is important to note that the code associated with the study is not available for public access.

https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2024-222134

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    Data availability statement

    No data are available. Select deidentified data from the ECHO Programme are available through NICHD’s Data and Specimen Hub (DASH). Information on study data not available on DASH, such as some Indigenous datasets, can be found on the ECHO study DASH webpage. Additionally, it is important to note that the code associated with the study is not available for public access.

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    Footnotes

    • Collaborators Program Collaborators for Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes ECHO Components—Coordinating Center: Duke Clinical Research Institute, Durham, North Carolina: Smith PB, Newby LK; Data Analysis Center: Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland: Jacobson LP; Research Triangle Institute, Durham, North Carolina: Catellier DJ; Person-Reported Outcomes Core: Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois: Gershon R, Cella D.Human Health Exposure Analysis Resource, Wadsworth Center, Menands, NY: Parsons P, Kurunthachalam K; RTI International, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina: Fennell TR, Sumner SJ, Du X; Westat, Rockville, MD: O’Brien, B; University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, Peterson LA; Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City, NY: Arora M, Teitelbaum SL, Wright RO; Duke University, Durham, NC: Stapleton, HM, Ferguson, PL.ECHO Awardees and Cohorts— New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY: Trasande L; Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY: Miller R; Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY: Herbstman J; Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY: Wright RJ; New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY: Duarte CS; New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY and Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY: Monk C; Duke University Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Durham, NC: Posner J; Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York: Aschner J.

    • Contributors TH and AG conceptualised and designed the study. TH acted as guarantor, accepted full responsibility for all aspects of the work and controlled the decision to publish. TH analysed the data and drafted the manuscript. AG supervised the work. All other authors were involved in interpretation of the data and critical review of the manuscript.

    • Funding Research reported in this publication was supported by the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Programme, Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health, under Award Numbers U2COD023375 (Coordinating Center), U24OD023382 (Data Analysis Center), U24OD023319 with cofunding from the Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research (PRO Core), UH3OD023320 (Aschner), UH3OD023328 (Duarte), UH3OD023290 (Herbstman), UH3OD023282 (Gern), UH3OD023305 (Trasande) and UH3OD023337 (Wright).

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    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

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