Air pollution particles detected in lungs, brains of fetuses: Study

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A groundbreaking find has researchers baffled and alarmed, after discovering that fetuses during pregnancy have toxic air pollution particles in the lungs, livers, and brains. 

In the most vulnerable stage of human development, the black carbon particles are passed on to the fetus after being inhaled by the mother and transmitted through the bloodstream and placenta that connects to the fetus. 

Published in the journal Lancet Planetary Health and conducted with mothers in Scotland and Belgium who identified as non-smoking in places with low air pollution, the research found air pollution particles even in umbilical cord blood and placentas, which, when compared with mothers living in high-level air pollution areas, the concentration of particles was higher. 

The 36 fetuses examined in the Scottish part were from normal pregnancies between seven and 20 weeks, and in Belgium, cord blood samples were taken after 60 healthy births. “The findings are especially concerning because this window of exposure is key to organ development,” the scientists said.

An increased rate of miscarriages impeded brain development, and premature births were known to be linked to polluted air inhalation, but this "very worrying" new study exhibits direct evidence of how that is taking place, with researchers adding that pollution could eventually lead to lifetime health effects. Emitted from fossil fuel combustion in vehicles, homes, and factories, the particles cause inflammation in the body due to the chemicals in them.

The research was discussed by Professor Paul Fowler, at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, who said, “We have shown for the first time that black carbon nanoparticles not only get into the first and second trimester placenta but then also find their way into the organs of the developing fetus."

Reiterating that the particles have the facilitated ability to enter the human brain, Fowler expressed worry that it would also be possible for the nanoparticles to interact and toy with the control systems of human fetal organs and cells directly. Fetuses in the womb are easily prone to receive whatever the mother consumes or breathes, and that is proven in one study made in 2017, whereby 850 babies showed signs of drug addiction because of their mother abusing legal or illegal substances such as cocaine, heroin, codeine, marijuana, and alcohol during pregnancy. 

An earlier discovery in 2018 may have aided in the breakthrough finding, in which Professor Jonathan Grigg at the Queen Mary University of London, alongside his colleagues, located polluted air particles in placentas. Grigg put his two cents in on the new study, expressing that “the new study is very good – they have shown convincingly that the particles then get into the fetuses. Seeing particles getting into the brain of fetuses raises the stakes because this potentially has lifelong consequences for the child,” adding that further research would still be required as it is not known yet what occurs when the particles release their chemicals in different parts of the body. 

Co-author of the research, Professor Tim Nawrot at Hasselt University in Belgium, said, “Air quality regulation should recognize this [air pollution] transfer during gestation and act to protect the most susceptible stages of human development.” He pointed fingers at governments for their responsibility to cut down air pollution, but still urged people to avoid busy roads when it is possible.

A 2019 comprehensive global review deduced that air pollution has intensive damage effects on human organs, as tiny particles have also been found in the blood-brain connection and billions of them have been located in the hearts of youths living in cities. More than 90% of the world’s population resides in areas where air pollution is above World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, and because of that, millions of deaths are caused and continue to rise as climate change worsens as well.