Fine particles in the air can reach the placenta of pregnant women. This is the result of a study conducted in Belgium and published in the journal Nature Communications.
We know some of the consequences related to air pollution and fine particles, especially on the heart. But how far are these particles lodged in our body? Belgian researchers, from the University of Hasselt and the Catholic University of Louvain, show in a study that soot carbon particles are found inside the placentas of women after childbirth. These are pollutants resulting from the combustion of wood, petrol, diesel and coal. The study is published in the journal NatureCommunications.
Place of residence plays a role
The researchers carried out this study on the placentas of twenty non-smoking women, recovered ten minutes after childbirth. Using a laser imaging technique, they discovered the presence of soot carbon particles in these placentas. To go further, the scientific team then wanted to know if the level of pollution in the place of residence played a role in the quantity of fine particles found in the placenta.
Of the 20 participants, ten lived in an area with high exposure to soot carbon. The other half lived in a low exposure area. Unsurprisingly, the rate of fine particles was more than twice as high in the placentas of women living in a place of residence very exposed to pollution. The rate was around 20,900 particles per cubic millimeter, compared to 9,500 in women less exposed to pollution.
Risks for the fetus?
How do these particles reach the placenta? Belgian researchers believe that they come first from the mother’s lungs. They would travel to the placenta through the bloodstream. One can therefore imagine that subsequently, these fine particles could reach the blood of the fetus itself.
This could “explain the mechanism of the harmful effects of pollution from the very early stages of life”, say the researchers. Low birth weight, growth delays or even metabolic disorders have already been associated with exposure to atmospheric pollutants. “Until now, it is still not known exactly how these adverse effects are caused in the fetus”, deplore the researchers. Two tracks have already been put forward: an indirect mechanism, such as “intrauterine inflammation” or a direct mechanism, such as the movement of fine particles from the air to the fetus.
According to a recent study, 8.8 million people die from pollution each year worldwide.
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