Prenatal exposure to air pollution may harm lungs

By Martha Kerr

BERLIN (Reuters Health) - The results of a new study suggest that the harmful effects of air pollution can begin early, even before birth.

Swiss researchers found that babies whose mothers were exposed to high levels of air pollution during pregnancy were at increased risk for breathing problems compared with infants whose mothers were not exposed to high levels.

Dr. Philipp Latzin and colleagues at the University of Bern reported their findings at the 18th Annual Congress of the European Respiratory Society that is being held here this week.

Latzin's team performed a variety of standard lung function tests in 241 healthy full-term infants at 5 weeks of age.

They also measured maternal exposure to particulate matter with a diameter of less than 10 micrometers (PM10), roughly one seventh the width of a human hair, and the distance from their residences and places of work to major roads during pregnancy.

Particulate matter includes tiny airborne particles such as soot, ash, dust, and acid droplets. Some particulate matter is naturally produced, but much of it comes from industry smokestacks or vehicle exhaust.

Infants born to mothers with high PM10 exposure moved more air into their lungs during each minute of breathing than infants born to mothers with low exposure. In large part, this was because infants of high pollution-exposed mothers breathed 48 times per minute on average, whereas infants of low pollution-exposed mothers breathed 42 times per minute.

Exposure to air pollution "is associated with higher respiratory need and airway inflammation in newborns," the researchers conclude in their abstract, and this may be associated with long-term breathing problems.