# Multigenerational air pollution exposure and adverse birth outcomes

> **NIH NIH R21** · SEQUOIA FOUNDATION · 2021 · $192,784

## Abstract

Project Summary
Growing evidence suggests that prenatal environmental exposures play a role in the birth outcomes and health
of future generations. While pregnancy exposure to ambient air pollution is related to increased risk of adverse
birth outcomes, no studies in human populations have yet estimated the impact on the subsequent
generation’s birth outcomes. Our long-term goal is to understand the multigenerational impact of differential
pregnancy exposure to air pollution on future generation birth outcomes. Black women and women with lower
socioeconomic status in the U.S. have persistent higher prevalence of adverse birth outcomes, and individuals
born preterm or term-low birth weight have compromised health across the life-course. Pregnancy exposure to
air pollution in a prior generation, along with increased susceptibility experienced by disadvantaged and
diverse communities, may therefore contribute to observed birth outcome and lifetime health disparities. Using
the largest multigenerational birth cohort in the U.S., this project aims to: 1) quantify the relationship between
first generation pregnancy exposure to air pollutants (particulate matter [PM2.5] and nitrogen dioxide [NO2]) and
adverse birth outcomes of the third generation, and 2) estimate the contribution of first generation pregnancy
exposure to air pollution on racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in birth outcomes of the third
generation. The multigenerational birth cohort consists of nearly 700,000 California births with geocoded
residence information for two generations born 1982-2011. Pregnancies from each generation will be assigned
recently-developed historic PM2.5 and NO2 concentrations, and birth data enhanced through linkage to prenatal
and newborn screening records and census and meteorological data. Longitudinal marginal models will be
used to assess the direct relation of first generation pregnancy air pollution exposure with preterm and term-
low birth weight in the third generation. Equitable exposure conditions will be simulated using a stochastic
intervention to evaluate change in racial/ethnic and socioeconomic birth outcome disparities under the scenario
where disadvantaged groups receive an exposure distribution equal to that of higher socioeconomic status or
non-Hispanic white Californians. The proposed research is significant because findings may uncover another
pathway by which air pollution influences health, as well as previously unmeasured exposure burden from
pregnancy air pollution exposure in a prior generation. The proposed study also has implications for designing
public health and environmental justice interventions. By characterizing prior generation exposures in the
context of racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities, the project provides methods to estimate the long-term
impact of exposures among vulnerable populations. Expanding air pollution health effects research to multiple
generations could, in the long term, inform calculatio...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10129007
- **Project number:** 1R21ES031715-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** SEQUOIA FOUNDATION
- **Principal Investigator:** MARTIN KHARRAZI
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $192,784
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-09-23 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10129007

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10129007, Multigenerational air pollution exposure and adverse birth outcomes (1R21ES031715-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10129007. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*