Exposure to atmospheric pollutants would cause an immune reaction specific to pregnant women that is harmful to their health, that of their baby and to their pregnancy.
- For now, researchers have not been able to determine when during pregnancy exposure to air pollutants is the most dangerous.
- Each year in France, nearly 40,000 deaths are attributable to exposure of people aged 30 and over to fine particles, according to Santé Publique France.
In 2019, 753,000 babies were born in France, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee). During their pregnancy, women must pay attention to many things to preserve the health of their future child: food, sun, contact with certain animals… But also air pollution, especially that linked to road traffic!
Air pollutants bad for pregnancy
According to a new study published in the journal Scientific Reportsthis pollution could have consequences on the placenta, lead to complications during pregnancy and affect the health of the mother and her baby.
To carry out their work, the scientists exposed female mice to air pollutants two months before and throughout their pregnancy. These were given to them nasally. In parallel, there was a control group of rodents to compare the two pregnancies.
A barrier to nutrient intake
Thus, the researchers were able to observe that mice that had been exposed to air pollution showed cellular changes in their placenta that could lead to pregnancy complications and affect their health and that of the fetuses. On the other hand, they also found an inflammation of the lining of the uterus of women due to this pollution.
According to the researchers, mice inhale – just like humans – these polluting substances, which therefore first arrive in the lungs but do not remain there. They then enter the bloodstream, which activates an immune response specific to pregnant women. This attacks the placental cells and the blood flows of the mother and the baby… It is therefore this immune response of pregnant women to pollutants that is dangerous during pregnancy. In detail, the authors believe that maternal immunity cells would destroy vital vascular cells in the placenta, which would impede the supply of nutrients from the mother to the baby and, ultimatelywould threaten the good progress of the pregnancy.
“The cellular changes we observed could be one of the elements that have been missing until now to explain the link between exposure to air pollutants and certain pregnancies that go wrong.believes Dr. Sherin Devaskar, one of the authors. What (the discovery of the researchers) could help develop preventive strategies for high-risk pregnancies”.