Associations of solar activity and related exposures with fetal growth.

Publisher: Elsevier Country of Publication: Netherlands NLM ID: 0330500 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1879-1026 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00489697 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Sci Total Environ Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: Amsterdam, Elsevier.

Solar Activity* ; Ultrasonography, Prenatal*; Female ; Pregnancy ; Humans ; Birth Weight ; Fetal Development ; Gestational Age

Background: Solar and geomagnetic activity have been shown to suppress melatonin and to degrade folate levels, important hormones for fetal development. We examined whether solar and geomagnetic activity were associated with fetal growth.
Methods: We included 9573 singleton births with 26,879 routine ultrasounds at an academic medical center in Eastern Massachusetts from 2011 through 2016. Sunspot number and Kp index were obtained from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Three exposure windows were considered, including the first 16 weeks of pregnancy, one month prior to fetal growth measurement, and conception until fetal growth measurement (cumulative). Ultrasound scans from which we extracted biparietal diameter, head circumference, femur length, and abdominal circumference measurements were categorized as anatomic (<24 weeks' gestation) or growth scans (≥24 weeks' gestation) based on clinical practice. Ultrasound parameters and birth weight were standardized, and linear mixed models adjusted for long-term trends were fitted.
Results: Prenatal exposures were positively associated with larger head parameters measured <24 weeks' gestation, negatively associated with smaller fetal parameters measured ≥24 weeks' gestation, and not associated with birth weight. The strongest associations were observed for cumulative exposure in growth scans, where an interquartile range increase in sunspot number (32.87 sunspots) was associated with a -0.17 (95 % CI: -0.26, -0.08), -0.25 (-0.36, -0.15), and -0.13 (95 % CI: -0.23, -0.03) difference in mean biparietal diameter, head circumference, and femur length z-score, respectively. An interquartile range increase in cumulative Kp index (0.49) was associated with a -0.11 (95 % CI: -0.22, -0.01) and -0.11 (95 % CI: -0.20, -0.02) difference in mean head circumference and abdominal circumference z-score, respectively, in growth scans.
Conclusions: Solar and geomagnetic activity were associated with fetal growth. Future studies are needed to better understand the impact of these natural phenomena on clinical endpoints.
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 B.V. All rights reserved.)

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P30 ES000002 United States ES NIEHS NIH HHS; R01 ES034038 United States ES NIEHS NIH HHS

Keywords: Fetal growth; Geomagnetic disturbances; Pregnancy outcomes; Solar activity

Date Created: 20230504 Date Completed: 20230609 Latest Revision: 20240811

20240812

PMC10330664

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163862

37142041