Air Pollution Can Affect Humans Even Before They’re Born

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The introduction of dangerous chemicals into the environment that negatively impacts our surroundings is referred to as pollution. Since the start of the industrial revolution, environmental pollution has become an increasingly common problem. Environmental contamination has increased over time along with the economy and populations.

Environmental risks, such as water and air pollution, severe weather, or chemical exposures, can have an impact on human health in a variety of ways, from causing acute illnesses like heat exhaustion to causing chronic diseases like cancer. Every year, more than 12 million individuals worldwide pass away due to their living or working conditions. Environmental dangers can affect everyone, regardless of socioeconomic standing, race, or age.

In light of this, a study published in the journal Lancet Planetary Health revealed that hazardous pollutants from pollutants could even enter the womb and harm developing humans. According to the researchers of the study mentioned above, the particles can affect the unborn child’s health by passing through the placenta as early as the first trimester of pregnancy. We will review some of the study’s key findings in this post to better comprehend how this incident might have occurred.

Investigating How Pollution Affects Unborn Babies

The disease burden on the unborn child has been connected to maternal exposure to particle air pollution during pregnancy in several ways. The ability of ambient particles to penetrate and pass the human placenta and directly impact developing fetal organ systems is still poorly understood. As a result, the primary goal of the Lancet Planetary Health study was to ascertain whether air pollution may harm an unborn child.

In their earlier investigation, the researchers discovered that particles might go from the mother’s lungs to the placenta. Based on this, the researchers made the following hypothesis: If they can pass from the lungs to the blood, they are probably so small that they can reach all organs via prenatal exposure. This included the organs of the next generation.

The black carbon nanoparticle class of air pollution was the main subject of this investigation. These dark particles often referred to as soot particles, are produced by burning biomass fuels such as coal, diesel, and others.

The research team looked at maternal-perinatal and fetal samples from Belgium and the UK to determine how pollution impacts children while they are still in the womb. The samples were examined by scientists using a technique known as femtosecond pulsed illumination to look for black carbon.

The capacity of these particles to pass the placenta and enter the fetal circulation system was confirmed by the researchers’ discovery of evidence of the existence of black carbon particles in cord blood. They have also demonstrated that the black carbon nanoparticles entered the human fetus’s liver, lung, and brain during the first and second trimesters in addition to the placenta.

The presence of black carbon grains in human cord blood and human fetal organs from two separate investigations demonstrates the pervasiveness of this environmental contaminant. It establishes that ambient particulates can be directly transferred to fetuses while they are still inside the mother.

Accordingly, investigations on human fetal programming could use cord blood black carbon load as a novel and practical marker of prenatal air pollution exposure. This will help to uncover the complexity of particle air pollution-related health impacts in early life.

Black carbon buildup in the fetal circulatory system and organs may be directly to blame for the reported negative health effects during infancy. They may play a part in the developmental causes of health and disease.

Additionally, the researchers emphasized that more investigation is required to clarify the processes through which particle translocation into the fetus and subsequent deposition of black carbon in fetal tissues may be directly accountable for the reported negative health impacts during infancy.

Journal Reference

Bongaerts, E., Lecante, L. L., Bové, H., Roeffaers, M. B., Ameloot, M., Fowler, P. A., & Nawrot, T. S. (2022). Maternal exposure to ambient black carbon particles and their presence in maternal and fetal circulation and organs: An analysis of two independent population-based observational studies. The Lancet Planetary Health, 6(10). https://doi.org/10.1016/s2542-5196(22)00200-5

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