Association between residential environmental noise exposure and maternal lipid profiles during early pregnancy

Environmental noise has been increasingly linked to cardiometabolic dysfunction, whereas its potential relationship with lipid metabolism during pregnancy remains insufficiently characterized. This study examined whether residential environmental noise exposure was associated with maternal serum lipid profiles in early pregnancy. A retrospective cohort of 12,911 pregnant women receiving prenatal care at a tertiary hospital in Shanghai, China, was analyzed. Residential environmental noise exposure was estimated using a land use regression model with 50 × 50 m spatial resolution. Fasting concentrations of total cholesterol (TC) and triglycerides (TG) were quantified enzymatically, whereas apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1) and apolipoprotein B (ApoB) were measured by immunoturbidimetric methods. The associations between residential noise and serum lipid parameters were examined using restricted cubic spline regression and segmented multivariable linear regression. Nonlinear exposure-response patterns were observed between noise exposure and TC (exploratory breakpoint, 64.75 dB (A)) and ApoB (exploratory breakpoint, 64.41 dB (A)), whereas no significant associations were observed for TG or ApoA1. Above the respective breakpoints, noise exposure was significantly and positively associated with serum TC, whereas the positive association between ApoB and noise exposure was not statistically significant. Each 5-dB (A) increase in noise exposure corresponded to a 0.130 mmol/L increase in TC (β = 0.130, 95% confidence interval: 0.022, 0.237), representing approximately 17.81% of the standard deviation. Below the breakpoints, no significant associations were detected. Residential environmental noise exposure was associated with maternal lipid profiles during the first trimester, particularly TC at higher exposure levels. These findings highlight residential noise as a potential environmental correlate of maternal metabolic health, warranting further investigation to establish causality and evaluate the benefits of noise reduction.