Harmful Effect of Air Pollution on Pregnancy

The Effects of Air Pollution on Pregnancy

Air pollution can be undoubtedly harmful to pregnancy. Substances such as carbon monoxide, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, benzene, emissions from solid biomass, and nitroarenes all contribute to air pollution. Studies done in North Carolina, California, and East India all conclude the same thing; air pollutants do affect the health of babies during pregnancy. The most severe affects from these toxins include cancer, short-and-long-term morbidity, and stillbirth. Still damaging, yet less traumatizing effects include low birth weight, small for gestational age, and preterm birth. PM2.5 is particulate matter in the air. One study shows it reduces birth weight by 3.1 g (Gray, 2013). Because most of air pollution is attributed to gas and diesel fuels, this problem is long from being solved. With the population ever increasing, more vehicles will be on the roadways. Unless more environmentally friendly vehicles catch on, fumes will continue to increase. This impact can be huge since carbon monoxide is part of vehicle exhaust, and being exposed to CO during pregnancy can increase the risk of cancer in children. A study over the correlation between cancer and air pollution shows there were more leukemia cases by heavily traveled roads (Heck, 2013). Studies done on mice with O3 pollution resulted in impaired lung & reproductive tract outcomes in baby mice, as well as fewer viable pregnancies (Gray, 2013). Another source of air pollution are fuel types that women use to cook with in the home, and how much ventilation the home has. A study in India shows that kerosene was the most harmful fuel group with 9.1% of babies being stillborn (Wylie, 2014). With more tests and time, more observations of air pollu...

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...or the umbilical cord blood may lead to more explanations why. The most common effects of air pollution are low term birth weight, preterm birth, and small for gestational age, though some effects can get as severe as stillborn births and cancer. The common theme in studies is that air pollution is largely contributed to vehicle emissions. Women that live in suburban or urban areas are at the most risk. Household emissions and improper ventilation are another concern that women in some countries face. Though not a lot of research has been done on this topic, it is becoming a more pressing issue with the population increasing without land increasing. As more problem arise from things such as particulate matter and nitrogen oxide in the air more research will need to be done to see how they work once in the mothers’ body, and how it transfers into affecting the fetus.