Neighborhood Green Space and Pregnancy Outcomes: Disentangling Effects from Air Pollution and Noise Exposures

Background: While growing evidence suggests urban green space may be associated with improved health, few studies have attempted to disentangle the effects of green space from other spatially clustered physical and social factors. Here we examine the correlation between neighborhood green space, and fine-scale exposure to air pollution, noise and area-level socioeconomic status (SES) within a large birth-cohort. Methods: Using linked administrative data, we identified 70,249 singleton births (from 1999–2002) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Seasonal residential green space was estimated using 30m Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data for 100m buffers around residential postal codes. Residential noise exposure was estimated using CadnaA software with a focus on transportation-related sources. Residential air pollution exposure was assessed using a number of land use regression models, of which nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is presented here. Area-level SES was measured using household median i...