PREGNANT women exposed to air pollution just before or after conceiving are at greater risk of their children being born with birth defects, according to a new study.
Although the increased risk is modest, researchers say the potential impact is worrying because all pregnant women have some amount of exposure to pollution.
They found that women exposed to air pollution just prior to conception or during the first month of pregnancy face an increased risk of their children being born with birth defects – such as a cleft lip or palate, or an abnormal heart.
Senior author Dr Emily DeFranco, of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Centre, said: “The most susceptible time of exposure appears to be the one month before and after conception.
“Public health efforts should continue to highlight the importance of minimising population-level exposure to harmful particulate matter in the air.”
Dr DeFranco and her colleagues examined fine particulate matter, which is a significant health hazard because the tiny particles can deposit deep into the lower airways and air sacs within the lungs and enter the circulatory system.
Fine particulate matter is a mixture of extremely small particles and liquid droplets that get into the air and, once inhaled, can negatively affect many aspects of a person’s health.
Dr DeFranco says there are limitations to observational studies, but it still provides a good foundation on which future studies can build.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here