Landfills and preterm birth in the Guadeloupe archipelago (French West Indies): a spatial cluster analysis

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Abstract

Background

A high rate of preterm birth is observed in the Guadeloupe archipelago (French West Indies), raising the hypothesis of harmful environmental exposures, including landfilling. Our aim was to evaluate whether preterm births cluster around the three main open landfills located in this area.

Methods

The study population consisted of 911 women enrolled in the Timoun mother-child cohort (2004–2007). Home addresses during pregnancy and locations of landfills were geocoded. To test for the presence of preterm birth clusters around each dumpsite, we used a focused cluster test specifically designed to detect spatial clustering around point sources.

Results

A total of 144 (15.8%) preterm births were observed among 911 births. Using the term births ( n = 767) as controls, a significant cluster was identified within 2 km around the Saint-François landfill with a relative risk (RR) of 4.82 ( p = 0.04). No clusters were found around the other two landfills (RR = 2.01, p = 0.26 and RR = 1.06, p = 0.64, for La Gabarre and Baillif, respectively).

Conclusion

The paucity of data available on open landfill sites regarding waste quantities, composition, and changes over time precludes any site-specific interpretation because of the variable degree of possible emissions. This result has to be confirmed in other tropical island environments where waste management has become a major concern with the potential to negatively impact the environment and public health.

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Most cited references 7

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Health effects associated with the disposal of solid waste in landfills and incinerators in populations living in surrounding areas: a systematic review.

Renato Pizzuti, Salvatore Panico, Amalia Mattiello … (2013)

Potential health hazards for the environment and people living nearby landfills and incinerators are claimed to be related to several methods of waste management. Independent systematic review of the scientific literature is a key procedure to support the lay public and policy makers to achieve informed decisions. The study design and potential biases of papers retrieved in this comprehensive literature search were analyzed. The most consistent result is that the risks of congenital anomalies and hospitalization due to respiratory disease are likely to be real nearby special waste landfills. From the very little information on exclusively urban waste depots it is reasonable to say that correct management of landfill does not increase the risk of these health effects. It is confirmed that historically incinerators are an important source of pollution and harm for the health of populations living nearby; however, changes in technology are producing more reassuring results. A moderate level of confidence is possible in limited areas of knowledge, implying the need to overcome the limitations of current studies about exposure assessment and to control confounders at the individual level.

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Birth weight reduction associated with residence near a hazardous waste landfill.

P M Berry, F Bove (1997)

We examined the relationship between birth weight and mother's residence near a hazardous waste landfill. Twenty-five years of birth certificates (1961-1985) were collected for four towns. Births were grouped into five 5-year periods corresponding to hypothesized exposure periods (1971-1975 having the greatest potential for exposure). From 1971 to 1975, term births (37-44 weeks gestation) to parents living closest to the landfill (Area 1A) had a statistically significant lower average birth weight (192 g) and a statistically significant higher proportion of low birth weight [odds ratio (OR) = 5.1; 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.1-12.3] than the control population. Average term birth weights in Area 1A rebounded by about 332 g after 1975. Parallel results were found for all births (gestational age > 27 weeks) in Area 1A during 1971-1975. Area 1A infants had twice the risk of prematurity (OR = 2.1; 95 CI, 1.0-4.4) during 1971-1975 compared to the control group. The results indicate a significant impact to infants born to residents living near the landfill during the period postulated as having the greatest potential for exposure. The magnitude of the effect is in the range of birth weight reduction due to cigarette smoking during pregnancy. Images Figure 1. Figure 2.

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Adverse birth outcomes associated with open dumpsites in Alaska Native Villages.

Susan Gilbreath, Philip H. Kass (2006)

This retrospective cohort study evaluated adverse birth outcomes in infants whose birth records indicated maternal residence in villages containing dumpsites potentially hazardous to health and environment. Birth records from 1997 to 2001 identified 10,073 eligible infants born to mothers in 197 Alaska Native villages. Outcomes included low or very low birth weight, preterm birth, and intrauterine growth retardation. Infants from mothers in villages with intermediate (odds ratio (OR) = 1.73, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.06, 2.84) and high (OR = 2.06, 95% CI: 1.28, 3.32) hazard dumpsites had a higher proportion of low birth weight infants than did infants from mothers in the referent category. More infants born to mothers from intermediate (OR = 4.38, 95% CI: 2.20, 8.77) and high (OR = 3.98, 95% CI: 1.93, 8.21) hazard villages suffered from intrauterine growth retardation. On average, infants weighed 36 g less (95% CI: -71.2, -0.8) and 55.4 g less (95% CI: -95.3, -15.6) when born to highly exposed mothers than did infants in the intermediate and low exposure groups, respectively, an effect even larger in births to Alaska Native mothers only. No differences in incidence were detected across exposure levels for other outcomes. This is the first study to evaluate adverse pregnancy outcomes associated with open dumpsites in Alaska Native villages.

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Author and article information

Contributors

Marion Istvan: istvan.marion@hotmail.fr

Florence Rouget: Florence.rouget@univ-rennes1.fr

Léah Michineau: leah.michineau@inserm.fr

Christine Monfort: christine.monfort@inserm.fr

Luc Multigner: luc.multigner@inserm.fr

Jean-François Viel:

ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6716-7468

+33 299 289 827 , 0000-0002-6716-7468 , jean-francois.viel@univ-rennes1.fr

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Trop Med Health

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Trop Med Health

Title: Tropical Medicine and Health

Publisher: BioMed Central (London )

ISSN (Print): 1348-8945

ISSN (Electronic): 1349-4147

Publication date (Electronic): 9 January 2019

Publication date PMC-release: 9 January 2019

Publication date Collection: 2019

Volume: 47

Electronic Location Identifier: 4

Affiliations

[1 ]Univ Rennes, CHU Rennes, Inserm, EHESP, Irset (Institut de recherche en santé, environnement et travail) - UMR_S 1085, 2 rue Henri Le Guilloux, F-35000 Rennes, France

[2 ]Univ Rennes, Inserm, EHESP, Irset (Institut de recherche en santé, environnement et travail) - UMR_S 1085, F-97000 Pointe-à-Pitre, France

[3 ]Univ Rennes, Inserm, EHESP, Irset (Institut de recherche en santé, environnement et travail) - UMR_S 1085, F-35000 Rennes, France

Author information

Jean-François Viel http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6716-7468

Article

Publisher ID: 130

DOI: 10.1186/s41182-018-0130-9

PMC ID: 6327536

PubMed ID: 30651715

SO-VID: 807b1549-989d-440b-8b4a-344c03f80543

License:

Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.

History

Date received : 6 November 2018

Date accepted : 18 December 2018

Funding

Funded by: French General Health Directorate

Award ID: DGS RMC11129NNA

Award Recipient : Luc Multigner

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ScienceOpen disciplines: Medicine

Keywords: preterm birth,environmental exposure,landfill,spatial clustering,french west indies

Data availability:

ScienceOpen disciplines: Medicine

Keywords: preterm birth, environmental exposure, landfill, spatial clustering, french west indies

Landfills and preterm birth in the Guadeloupe archipelago (French West Indies): a spatial cluster analysis

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Pneumonia, sex, and the environment

Most cited references 7

Health effects associated with the disposal of solid waste in landfills and incinerators in populations living in surrounding areas: a systematic review.

Birth weight reduction associated with residence near a hazardous waste landfill.

Adverse birth outcomes associated with open dumpsites in Alaska Native Villages.

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