ArticleEnvironmental health perspectives2014
Birth outcomes and maternal residential proximity to natural gas development in rural Colorado.
Article in Environmental health perspectives, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 129 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
129 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 337 citations in OpenAlex.
- Oil and Gas Development and Adverse Birth Outcomes: A Qualitative and Quantitative Bias Analysis of the Epidemiologic Literature.Current environmental health reports · 2026Pooled it
- Association between maternal exposure to oil and gas extraction process with adverse birth outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Pooled it
- The public health impacts of mining in Australia.The Medical journal of Australia · 2025Pooled it
- A Systematic Review of the Epidemiologic Literature Assessing Health Outcomes in Populations Living near Oil and Natural Gas Operations: Study Quality and Future Recommendations.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Pooled it
- Exploring the endocrine activity of air pollutants associated with unconventional oil and gas extraction.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2018Pooled it
- Systematic review of the association between oil and natural gas extraction processes and human reproduction.Fertility and sterility · 2016Pooled it
- Structural birth defects and exposure to oil and gas wells during pregnancy.Pediatric research · 2026Article
- Monitoring and Modeling Population Exposures to Air Pollutants from Oil and Gas Development: Part 1. Predictive, Source-Oriented Modeling and Measurements to Evaluate Community Exposures to Air Pollutants and Noise from Unconventional Oil and Gas Development.Research report (Health Effects Institute) · 2026Article
- Health disparities and industrial emissions: a case study of semiconductor manufacturing and asthma morbidity in Austin, Texas.Population and environment · 2026Article
- Impact of oil and gas boom and busts on working-age mortality in the U.S.Environmental epidemiology (Philadelphia, Pa.) · 2025Article
- Assessing Source Contributions to Air Quality and Noise in Unconventional Oil Shale Plays.Research report (Health Effects Institute) · 2025Article
- Investigating the Aliso Canyon gas blowout disaster and adverse birth outcomes: A quasiexperimental approach.Science advances · 2025Article
- The health burden and racial-ethnic disparities of air pollution from the major oil and gas lifecycle stages in the United States.Science advances · 2025Article
- Exposures from Oil and Gas Development and Childhood Leukemia Risk in Colorado: A Population-Based Case-Control Study.Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology · 2025Article
- A Narrative Review of Spatial-Temporal Data Sources for Estimating Population-Level Exposures to Oil and Gas Development in the United States.Current environmental health reports · 2025Review
- The Causal Effect of Increasing Area-Level Income on Birth Outcomes and Pregnancy-Related Health: Estimates From the Marcellus Shale Boom Economy.Demography · 2024Article
- Prenatal Exposure to Source-Specific Fine Particulate Matter and Autism Spectrum Disorder.Environmental science & technology · 2024Article
- Invited Perspective: Drilling Down into the Mechanisms Linking Oil and Gas Development to Adverse Perinatal Health Outcomes.Environmental health perspectives · 2024Article
- A National Study of the Associations between Hormonal Modulators in Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid Chemicals and Birth Outcomes in the United States of America: A County-Level Analysis.Environmental health perspectives · 2024Article
- IMPACT OF REAL-LIFE ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURES ON REPRODUCTION: Evidence for reproductive health effects following exposure to hydraulic fracturing chemical mixtures.Reproduction (Cambridge, England) · 2024Review
69 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundBirth 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.
objectivesWe 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.
methodsWe calculated inverse distance weighted natural gas well counts within a 10-mile radius of maternal residence to estimate maternal exposure to NGD. Logistic regression, adjusted for maternal and infant covariates, was used to estimate associations with exposure tertiles for congenital heart defects (CHDs), neural tube defects (NTDs), oral clefts, preterm birth, and term low birth weight. The association with term birth weight was investigated using multiple linear regression.
resultsPrevalence of CHDs increased with exposure tertile, with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.3 for the highest tertile (95% CI: 1.2, 1.5); NTD prevalence was associated with the highest tertile of exposure (OR = 2.0; 95% CI: 1.0, 3.9, based on 59 cases), compared with the absence of any gas wells within a 10-mile radius. Exposure was negatively associated with preterm birth and positively associated with fetal growth, although the magnitude of association was small. No association was found between exposure and oral clefts.
conclusionsIn this large cohort, we observed an association between density and proximity of natural gas wells within a 10-mile radius of maternal residence and prevalence of CHDs and possibly NTDs. Greater specificity in exposure estimates is needed to further explore these associations.
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