OBJECTIVEThis study aims to evaluate the characteristics and the popular themes in the field of air pollution and reproductive and developmental health with the bibliometric approach.

METHODThe articles from the year 1955 to 2013 in this field were retrieved by searching PubMed/MEDLINE using MeSH terms. The bibliographic information was analyzed to summarize the overall research characteristics. MeSH terms were sorted by their normalized frequency (NF) and classified into categories (air pollutants/components, reproductive and developmental outcomes and biological mechanisms) and then analyzed by regressive analysis to investigate the popular themes and their tendency.

RESULTSAll 2 315 papers are retrieved in this field, and 52.9% of the papers are published from the year 2004 to 2013. The 84.1% of the studies are conducted on the population, in which 10.9% are cohort studies. The researchers from USA conduct 28.0% of the studies. Only 2.3% of the studies are conducted by researchers from China. In the category of air pollutants/components, the high NF of MeSH terms, tobacco smoke pollutants, dust, carbon monoxide and heavy metals are 46.96%, 15.92%, 5.03% and 7.84% respectively. In the category of reproductive and developmental outcomes, the high NF of abortion, prenatal exposure delayed effects and pregnancy complications are 4.36%, 12.17% and 6.01%. In the category of biological mechanisms, the high NF of maternal-fetal exchange and DNA damage are 6.58% and 1.31%.

CONCLUSIONTobacco smoke pollutants, dust, carbon monoxide and heavy metals are the major concerns of air pollutants/components. Reproductive and developmental outcomes mainly focus on the abortion, prenatal exposure delayed effects and pregnancy complications. Maternal-fetal exchange and DNA damage are mostly concerned as the biological mechanisms.