In this study, we used the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Environmental Quality Index (EQI) to investigate whether the environmental quality of the county of residence during early pregnancy is associated with gastroschisis in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study (NBDPS). The EQI is an aggregate environmental index incorporating a wide spectrum of environmental data that can be used to generate geographic-based estimates of cumulative environmental exposures across five domains: air, water, land, sociodemographic, and built environment. This dataset is not publicly accessible because: EPA cannot release personally identifiable information regarding living individuals, according to the Privacy Act and the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). This dataset contains information about human research subjects. Because there is potential to identify individual participants and disclose personal information, either alone or in combination with other datasets, individual level data are not appropriate to post for public access. Restricted access may be granted to authorized persons by contacting the party listed. It can be accessed through the following means: Environmental Quality Index is available for download at: https://www.epa.gov/healthresearch/environmental-quality-index-eqi

Data from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study (NBDPS) and the Birth Defects Study To Evaluate Pregnancy exposureS (BD-STEPS) are not released to the public.Qualified researchers can be granted access to NBDPS and/or BD-STEPS data for analysis through collaboration with one of the Centers for Birth Defects Research and Prevention (CBDRP). Information for access is available at https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/birthdefects/nbdps-public-access-procedures.html. Format: The National Birth Defects Prevention Study (NBDPS) is a population-based, multi-center case–control study designed to investigate environmental and genetic risk factors for major structural birth defects in the U.S. (Reefhuis et al., 2015). Cases of gastroschisis and other eligible birth defects diagnosed among infants, stillbirths, and terminations with dates of delivery on or after October 1, 1997 and estimated dates of delivery on or before December 31, 2011 were identified by active, population-based birth defects surveillance programs in Arkansas (1998–2011; statewide), California (1997–2011; selected counties), Georgia (1997–2011; selected counties), Iowa (1997–2011; statewide), Massachusetts (1997–2011; selected counties), New Jersey (1998–2002; statewide), New York (1997–2002 & 2004–2011; selected counties), North Carolina (2003–2011; selected counties), Texas (1997–2011; selected counties), and Utah (2003– 2011; statewide). Reefhuis, J., Gilboa, S. M., Anderka, M., Browne, M. L., Feldkamp, M. L., Hobbs, C. A., Jenkins, M. M., Langlois, P. H., Newsome, K. B., Olshan, A. F., Romitti, P. A., Shapira, S. K., Shaw, G. M., Tinker, S. C., Honein, M. A., & the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. (2015). The National Birth Defects Prevention Study: A review of the methods. Birth Defects Research. Part A, Clinical and Molecular Teratology, 103(8), 656–669. https://doi.org/10.1002/bdra.23384

Environmental Quality Index is available for download at: https://www.epa.gov/healthresearch/environmental-quality-index-eqi.

This dataset is associated with the following publication: Krajewski, A., A. Patel, C. Gray, L. Messer, C. Keeler, P. Langlois, J. Reefhuis, S. Gilboa, M. Werler, G. Shaw, S. Carmichael, W. Nembhard, T. Insaf, M. Feldkamp, K. Conway, D. Lobdell, and T. Desrosiers. Is gastroschisis associated with county-level socio-environmental quality during pregnancy?. Wiley StatsRef: Statistics Reference Online. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ, USA, 115(18): 1758-1769, (2023).