Oil Spills, Gas Flaring and Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Oil spills and gas flaring are major environmental problems and pose major source of adverse health outcomes to communities hosting oil wells and natural gas. As oil is spilt and gas is flared; air, soil and water in affected communities are polluted. Due to this, members of these communities are exposed to higher health risks. One vulnerable group that is usually affected in this regard is pregnant women. This systematic review identified and reviewed past studies on oil pollution and different types of pregnancy outcomes within a twenty-year gap, which is between 1999 and 2019. The review also discussed the exposure pathways of oil pollution. From a literature search on scientific databases conducted in August 2019 for articles relating to the objectives of the review, data were extracted from articles which met the inclusion criteria and contents were systematically analyzed based on types of pregnancy outcomes. This review showed that oil spill and gas flaring may put pregnant women at high risk of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, gestational diabetes mellitus, maternal depression, miscarriages via three pathways. This review may be of some use in making policy in this area.