Nulliparous, pregnant ever-smokers living in counties with higher radon and those living in counties with higher radon and PM2.5 levels have higher odds of GDM<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter<\/b>
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FRIDAY, Jan. 10, 2025 (HealthDay News) — In nulliparous pregnant individuals, higher radon exposure is associated with greater odds of gestational diabetes (GD), according to a study published online Jan. 10 in JAMA Network Open<\/em>.<\/p>\n Yijia Zhang, Ph.D., from the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City, and colleagues examined the association of county-level radon exposure with GD risk in a multicenter, population-based cohort study using data from the Nulliparous Pregnancy Outcomes Study: Monitoring Mothers-to-Be cohort. Data were included for 9,107 participants; 41.6 percent had ever used tobacco.<\/p>\n The researchers found that the mean county-level radon concentration was 1.6 pCi\/L; 4.2 percent of participants had GD recorded. The odds of developing GD were higher for individuals living in counties with the highest radon level (\u22652 pCi\/L) compared with those living in counties with the lowest radon level (<1 pCi\/L), after adjustment for potential confounders (odds ratio, 1.37; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.41 to 3.11); the odds ratio was attenuated to 1.36 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.00 to 1.86) after additional adjustment for fine particulate matter air pollutants (PM2.5<\/sub>). Ever smokers living in counties with a higher (\u22652 pCi\/L) radon level and those living in counties with higher radon and PM2.5<\/sub> levels had elevated odds of GD (odds ratios [95 percent confidence intervals], 2.09 [1.41 to 3.11] and 1.93 [1.31 to 2.83], respectively), although there were no statistically significant interactions.<\/p>\n “This study provides a foundation for future research focusing on individual-level indoor radon measurement to confirm the findings and explore the underlying biological mechanisms,” the authors write.<\/p>\n Several authors disclosed ties to the health care industry.<\/p>\n