Carbon in air pollution may cross placenta, affect baby's health
Carbon particles in polluted air can travel through a mother's placenta to
the foetal side, which may lead to future health complications as the baby
develops, according to a study. A team of researchers including those from
Hasselt University in Belgium identified the presence of black carbon particles
that are part of combustion-derived particulate matter in all the placenta
samples they screened from 28 new mothers.
The study suggests that
the placenta, which is a temporary organ that presents a natural barrier
between mother and foetus during the entire pregnancy may not be as impermeable
to environmental pollutants as thought before.
The researchers used a new scanning technique to find carbon particles
accumulated on the foetus-side of the placenta, close to where the umbilical
cord begins.
The carbon particle load found in the placenta was positively associated
with the residential exposure of the mothers to the pollutants during
gestation, the study noted.
The results, according to the researchers, indicate that particulate matter
in the environment can cross the placental barrier towards the foetus, even
during early and vulnerable stages of pregnancy.
The researchers caution that the direct effects induced by
combustion-related pollutants in the environment "are at least partially
responsible for observed detrimental health effects from early life
on-wards."
"If you think that these are problems of Asian mega-cities, read on --
data presented in this paper were collected in Belgium!" tweeted Gregor
Kos, an atmospheric analytical chemist at Concordia University in Canada, who
was not involved in the study.
A study conducted last year by researchers at Queen Mary University of
London in the UK found evidence of tiny particles of carbon, typically created
by burning fossil fuels, in placentas.