A recent study revealed that pregnant
women who are exposed to traffic pollution are increasing the chances of
damaging the lungs of their unborn children.
Thorax, one of the world’s leading respiratory
medicine journals, published a study that concluded exposure to pollution
during the second trimester of pregnancy raises the risk of harm to a child’s
lungs.
While existing research
by-and-large highlights the adverse effects of air pollutants on lung function
in school-aged children and adolescents, this study draws attention to the less
well-known effects on the unborn child.
Of the 1,295 women enrolled in the
study at the beginning of pregnancy, the researchers obtained data on exposure
to both air pollution and lung function assessment at 4.5 years old for 620 of
their children. Nitrogen dioxide and benzene levels, widely used markers of
traffic-related air pollution, were used as indicators of pollution I the areas
in which the women lived.
Analysis of the results showed that
exposure to higher levels of nitrogen dioxide and benzene in pregnancy was
associated with reduced lung function parameters in breathing tests.
Children whose mothers lived in a high
traffic air pollution area during the second trimester of pregnancy had a 22%
higher risk of impaired lung function that those living in less populated
areas.
Dr. Eva Morales of the Centre for
Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL) in Barcelona led the study.
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