Evidence map›Paper›PMID 21131253›Full record

SynthesisEnvironmental health perspectives2011

Ambient air pollution and risk of congenital anomalies: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Martine Vrijheid, David Martinez, Sandra Manzanares, Payam Dadvand, Anna Schembari, Judith Rankin, Mark Nieuwenhuijsen

Erratum issuedOpen access · diamondAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Environmental health perspectives, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 131 papers, 22 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
131citing papers in PubMed, 22 pooled it
7.8field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

131 citing papers in PubMed, 22 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 303 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Airborne contaminant exposure and bone development: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Toxicological sciences : an official journal of the Society of Toxicology · 2026
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  7. Adverse Birth Outcomes Related to NOInternational journal of environmental research and public health · 2020
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  19. Effects of air pollution on the risk of congenital anomalies: a systematic review and meta-analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2014
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71 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

  • Erratum issued
5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Martine VrijheidCenter for Research in Environmental Epidemiology, Barcelona, Spain. mvrijheid@creal.cat
David Martinez
Sandra Manzanares
Payam Dadvand
Anna Schembari
Judith Rankin
Mark Nieuwenhuijsen
Center for Research in Environmental Epidemiology · ESNewcastle University · GBUniversitat Pompeu Fabra · ES

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveWe systematically reviewed epidemiologic studies on ambient air pollution and congenital anomalies and conducted meta-analyses for a number of air pollutant-anomaly combinations. DATA SOURCES AND EXTRACTION: From bibliographic searches we extracted 10 original epidemiologic studies that examined the association between congenital anomaly risk and concentrations of air pollutants. Meta-analyses were conducted if at least four studies published risk estimates for the same pollutant and anomaly group. Summary risk estimates were calculated for a) risk at high versus low exposure level in each study and b) risk per unit increase in continuous pollutant concentration. DATA SYNTHESIS: Each individual study reported statistically significantly increased risks for some combinations of air pollutants and congenital anomalies, among many combinations tested. In meta-analyses, nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) and sulfur dioxide (SO₂) exposures were related to increases in risk of coarctation of the aorta [odds ratio (OR) per 10 ppb NO₂ = 1.17; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.00-1.36; OR per 1 ppb SO₂ = 1.07; 95% CI, 1.01-1.13] and tetralogy of Fallot (OR per 10 ppb NO₂ = 1.20; 95% CI, 1.02-1.42; OR per 1 ppb SO₂ = 1.03; 95% CI, 1.01-1.05), and PM₁₀ (particulate matter ≤ 10 µm) exposure was related to an increased risk of atrial septal defects (OR per 10 μg/m³ = 1.14; 95% CI, 1.01-1.28). Meta-analyses found no statistically significant increase in risk of other cardiac anomalies and oral clefts.

conclusionsWe found some evidence for an effect of ambient air pollutants on congenital cardiac anomaly risk. Improvements in the areas of exposure assessment, outcome harmonization, assessment of other congenital anomalies, and mechanistic knowledge are needed to advance this field.

Indexed as

Air PollutionEnvironmental MonitoringHeart Defects, CongenitalHumansNitrogen DioxideSulfur DioxideNitrogen DioxideSulfur Dioxide

Identifiers

PMID21131253
PMCPMC3094408
OpenAlexW1963517200

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC0
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.