Global, regional, and national burden of neonatal diseases attributable to fine particulate matter air pollution, 1990-2050

Zhe Xu; Dun Li; Qiao Liu; Sheng Li; Yujian Li; Shu Li; Yuhong Bian; Xuan Kan; Yaogang Wang; Jue Liu

doi:10.1016/j.envint.2025.109638

Global, regional, and national burden of neonatal diseases attributable to fine particulate matter air pollution, 1990-2050

Environ Int. 2025 Jun 25:202:109638. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2025.109638. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Zhe Xu¹, Dun Li², Qiao Liu³, Sheng Li¹, Yujian Li⁴, Shu Li⁵, Yuhong Bian¹, Xuan Kan⁶, Yaogang Wang⁷, Jue Liu⁸

Affiliations

¹ School of Integrative Medicine, Public Health Science and Engineering College, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China.
² School of Public Health, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300070, China.
³ School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China.
⁴ School of Public Health, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300070, China; Department of Pediatrics, General Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300052, China.
⁵ School of Management, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China.
⁶ Department of Pediatrics, General Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300052, China.
⁷ School of Integrative Medicine, Public Health Science and Engineering College, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China; School of Public Health, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300070, China; National Institute of Health Data Science at Peking University, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China. Electronic address: YaogangWANG@tmu.edu.cn.
⁸ School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China; Institute of Environmental Medicine, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China; National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China. Electronic address: jueliu@bjmu.edu.cn.

PMID: 40578109
DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2025.109638

Abstract

Fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) air pollution constitutes a significant hazard to the well-being and survival of children everywhere, posing particularly dire risks to neonates. However, the neonatal disease burden attributable to PM_2.5 pollution remains unclear worldwide. Data on neonatal diseases attributable to PM_2.5 pollution were obtained and collected from the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) 2021. The main outcome was the age-standardized disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) rate (ASDR) and age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR) per 100 000 population of neonatal diseases caused by PM_2.5 pollution. These metrics were stratified by sex, region, country, and disease. The correlations, trends, and projections of the burden were also analyzed. Globally, there were approximately 497.0 thousand deaths and 44737.3 thousand DALYs from neonatal diseases caused by PM_2.5 pollution in 2021. From 1990 to 2021, the overall ASDR (1120.4 to 723.1) and ASMR (12.5 to 8.0) showed a downward trend. However, the ASDR of neonatal diseases attributable to PM_2.5 pollution was high in Sub-Saharan Africa (1717.1 to 1235.8) and South Asia (2010.4 to 1148.1), especially regarding household PM_2.5 pollution. The higher ASDR attributable to PM_2.5 pollution was observed in neonatal encephalopathy due to birth asphyxia and trauma and neonatal preterm birth. By 2050, the ASDR of neonatal disease impacts from household PM_2.5 pollution remain persistently high. Neonatal disease burden attributable to PM_2.5 pollution remains a crucial health issue in children. Targeted strategies to improve PM_2.5 air quality and neonatal disease burden are essential.

Keywords: Air pollution; Disability-adjusted life-years; Fine particulate matter air pollution; Global burden of disease study; Neonatal diseases.