Maternal proximity to Central Appalachia surface mining and birth outcomes

The Association between Mountaintop Mining and Birth Defects among Live Births in Central Appalachia, 2001-2003

The association between mountaintop mining and birth defects among live births in central Appalachia, 1996-2003.

Birth defects are examined in mountaintop coal mining areas compared to other coal mining areas and non-mining areas of central Appalachia. The study hypothesis is that higher birth-defect rates are present in mountaintop mining areas. National Center for Health Statistics natality files were used to analyze 1996-2003 live births in four Central Appalachian states (N=1,889,071). Poisson regress...

Birth Outcomes and Maternal Residential Proximity to Natural Gas Development in Rural Colorado

BACKGROUND Birth defects are a leading cause of neonatal mortality. Natural gas development (NGD) emits several potential teratogens, and U.S. production of natural gas is expanding. OBJECTIVES We examined associations between maternal residential proximity to NGD and birth outcomes in a retrospective cohort study of 124,842 births between 1996 and 2009 in rural Colorado. METHODS We calcula...

Maternal nutrition and birth outcomes.

In this review, the authors summarize current knowledge on maternal nutritional requirements during pregnancy, with a focus on the nutrients that have been most commonly investigated in association with birth outcomes. Data sourcing and extraction included searches of the primary resources establishing maternal nutrient requirements during pregnancy (e.g., Dietary Reference Intakes), and search...

Combining a Spatial Model and Demand Forecasts to Map Future Surface Coal Mining in Appalachia

Predicting the locations of future surface coal mining in Appalachia is challenging for a number of reasons. Economic and regulatory factors impact the coal mining industry and forecasts of future coal production do not specifically predict changes in location of future coal production. With the potential environmental impacts from surface coal mining, prediction of the location of future activ...