Toxicological evidence suggests that the endocrine-disrupting properties of ambient air pollution can impact menstrual cycle*, an important marker of women’s health.
*Read this visual explanation of menstrual cycle length and variability
To understand the influence of air pollution on menstrual cycles, we used de-identified self-tracked data from a popular mobile women’s health-tracking app.
We used data of 2,220,281 menstrual cycles between 2016-2020, corresponding to 92,550 users in 210 cities across the United States, Mexico, and Brazil.
Each flower represents a city from one of the three countries: rose for the United States, dahlia for Mexico, and ipe for Brazil.
We compare the level of air pollution (concentration of PM2.5
, varying from 3.7 μg/m³ to almost 35 μg/m³)
with percentage of abnormal menstrual cycles.
Regression analyses were used to evaluate associations between long-term PM2.5, averaged between 2016-2020, and city-level outcomes after controlling for potential confounders.
The integration of large-scale high-resolution health data and advanced environmental monitoring is transforming how we study public health.
Dust Bloom investigates the relationship between ambient air pollution and menstrual cycle health across the United States, Mexico, and Brazil. Leveraging over 2.2 million de-identified menstrual cycles from 92,550 users of a mobile health-tracking app, between 2016 and 2020, we examined how exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) correlates with abnormal cycle lengths. Our analysis revealed a significant association between long-term PM2.5 exposure and a higher percentage of abnormal and abnormally long cycles at the city level, while short-term exposure showed no significant effects. These findings highlight the potential impacts of air pollution on reproductive health and underscore the need for further research into the underlying biological mechanisms.
Priyanka deSouza
University of Colorado Denver & MIT Senseable City Lab
MIT Senseable City Lab
Carlo Ratti
Fábio Duarte
Claire Gorman
Meghan Timmons
Clue by BioWink GmbH
Amanda A Shea
Virginia J Vitzthum
Patricia Huguelet
Mary D. Sammel
Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health
Danielle Braun
Rachel C. Nethery
Jingrong Zhang
deSouza, P. N., Shea, A. A., Vitzthum, V. J., Duarte, F., Hanly, C. G., Timmons, M., Huguelet, P., Sammel, M. D., Ratti, C., Braun, D., & Nethery, R. C. (2025). The effect of air pollution exposure on menstrual cycle health using self-reported data from a mobile health app: a prospective, observational study. The Lancet Planetary Health.
The material on this website can be used freely in any
publication provided that
1. it is duly credited as a project by the MIT Senseable City
Lab.
2. a PDF copy of the publication is sent to
senseable-press@mit.edu
Partners
