Air pollution reduces the birth weight

A low birth weight is an important indicator of the future health of an infant. Patterns that are started by a low birth weight at birth can significantly influence the body composition and development in the course of the child's maturity and possibly predict weight problems and various health problems in later life. Hypertension and diabetes mellitus in women aged 40 to 69.

Before we the results of this study by Smith et al. Investigating, we have to pause for a moment and look at this study in the context of several other recent work. A number of studies published in the same period have tried to answer whether air pollution increases the risk of a low birth weight. This paper by Smith et al. is only one of 4 similar studies published in December 2017, according to the PubMed database.

A study by Kingsley et al. was also published in December, which examined the effects of air pollution on premature births in Rhode Island in a hospital -based study. The authors find that the air in Rhode Island is relatively clean compared to the locations examined in previous reports and has little fine dust values ​​in the air. Nevertheless, Kingsley's group reported in the magazine for epidemiology and community health The increased PM 2.5 The exposure was associated with a reduction in birth weight by 12 to 16 grams (n = 61.640). Kingsley's group estimated this at 2.5 µg/m ^{3 increase in the PM 2.5 exposure during pregnancy, risk of premature birth by 4 %.}

liu et al. examined the exposure of mothers to fine dust in Shanghai, China, and reported in an article published in December 2017 about more dramatic effects than the researchers in Rhode Island. The effects were probably greater because the pollution in Shanghai is significantly worse: The annual average concentration of fine dust 2.5 in Shanghai was 56.19 μg/m 3 in 2013. Are _{2.5 exposure.}

In a further publication of December, NG et al. about their detailed analysis of data on births in California (n = 1,050,330). Interquiliza gain of total PM exposure 2.5 were associated with a risk of low birth weight by 7.7 %. This study details the type of particle and reports on different risks, depending on what the particles are made of; The incidence of low birth weight was increased by 7.7 % by ammonium sulfate particles, by 5.6 % by ground particles and 3.1 % by ammonium nitrate. Regional differences such as inland vs. coast and north vs. south also played a role. 9

As mentioned, these studies were published in the first week of December. A less than careful search in medical literature, which goes back to summer 2017, finds a number of similar reports from places around the world, including Jinan, China, ^{10 Scotland, 11 Connecticut, 12 and CAPE COD, Massachusetts. are quite consistent, so we should pay close attention to: exposure to air pollution during pregnancy very likely increases the risk of a woman with a low birth weight.}

In mice, there seems to be individual periods during pregnancy in which experimental exposure to fine dust has a more impairment and rather increases the risk of low birth weight. Exposure to primary traffic -related air pollutants in the second and third trimester had a greater impact on the low birth weight than exposure in the first trimester. Conversely, PM exposure 2.5 During the former trimester, SGA was more closely associated than exposure during the third trimester. It looks as if there is no good time for exposure.

Walter Crinnion came to the conclusion in a report on air pollution, which was published in this magazine in 2015

Much more attention has to be drawn to recognize the important role, the ordinary air pollutants play for health, and corresponding measures must be taken to reduce the concentration of ordinary air pollutants in the apartment-the only environment that have most people under control. It is quite possible that one of the most effective preventive medical modalities would be the installation of a high -quality air purifier in the apartment.

His conclusion now seems to apply especially to women during pregnancy.