Air pollution found to affect birthweight

There is a higher risk of babies being born with a low birth weight if their mothers are exposed to air pollution during pregnancy, reports Reuters Health. Exposure to even small levels of air pollution from an urban environment can affect the birth weight of babies, according to a review of European evidence.

Data taken from 12 countries in Europe, which covered over 74,000 women over a period of 15 years was used within the review, reports the news provider. According to researchers, the number of low birth weight babies could be reduced by around 22 per cent if countries reduced their air pollution limits to the levels that are outlined by the World Health Organization (WHO). 

Low birth weight, where the baby weighs under 2.4kg at birth, increases the child's chance of developing respiratory issues. It can also lead to a number of other health issues later on in life.

The research was led by Dr Marie Pedersen, from the Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology in Barcelona. She told Reuters Health that the reduction in the number of children with a low birth weight is similar to the decrease that would be experienced if all pregnant women, in the same population that this study was based on, were to stop smoking.

Dr Pedersen and her team performed a review of 14 different studies from between 1994 and 2011. The studies looked at women that had birthed full term babies during that period. Researchers focused on areas that people live in rather than smaller cities that have low traffic or areas that are purely industrial locations. 

The home addresses of each of the women during pregnancy was noted along with the gestational age of the babies, their gender and birth weight. Researchers also developed their own air-monitoring network, which measured the pollution levels in the different locations on three different occasions, reports Reuters Health.

It was found that fine particulates from industry and exhausts were detrimental to the weight of children at birth. For each particulate pollution increase of five micrograms per cubic meter of air, the risk of low birth weight increased by 18 per cent. 

Babies were also found to have a smaller head, which could be a sign of differences in brain development. Researchers also found that mothers who lived in areas where particulate pollution was more than 15 micrograms per square meter birthed children with a smaller head circumference.