Air pollution: poor fetus!

The pollutants in the air, especially those from combustion processes (traffic, heating), would impair fetal growth. The birth weight babies and their head circumference would be thereby reduced. The long-term consequences of these disorders, as well as biological mechanisms by which these pollutants could affect the development of unborn baby, were misidentified. This work, conducted by researchers at The mixed INSERM-Université de Grenoble 823 "Institute of Oncology / Development" in collaboration with the CHU de Nancy, Poitiers and researchers from Inserm U780, Villejuif, were recently published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
The study involved 280 pregnant women in the cohort EDEN mother-child, in whom fetal growth was followed at the end of each trimester of pregnancy and birth. In mid-pregnancy, the volunteers wore a device to quantify the levels of benzene in ambient air. With this, it was possible to obtain data from individual exposure to air pollutants. And this work has to take into account women's exposure to pollution, not only outside but also in their homes, their workplace or in transport.
The researchers found the influence, already known, the duration of pregnancy, maternal corpulence and passive smoking on fetal growth. Adjusting for these factors, they showed that the effect on head circumference was evident from the late second trimester. The association between air pollution and fetal growth was observed for women in the general population, exposure levels often encountered in the French cities of medium size. These results confirm those of an earlier study conducted by the same team, but for which pollution data were from measurements in outdoor air without taking account of direct exposure to pollutants in indoor air. According to these researchers, air pollution could affect some biological functions of pregnant women, limiting exchanges between mother and fetus, and therefore alters the growth of the latter.