Environmental pollution reduces the size of the fetus

A study in Australia showed that the fetuses of women who live in a polluted environment are smaller than those who live in a healthy environment.

Dr. Adrian Barnett of Queensland University of Technology (Australia), Dr. Craig Hansen of the US Environmental Protection Agency and Dr. Gary Pritchard of PacUser (USA) conduct research on the impact of environmental pollution on with the fetus for 10 years.

According to Science Daily, three scientists analyzed the ultrasound results of more than 15,000 pregnant women in the city of Brisbane (Australia). All study subjects lived in contaminated areas with a diameter of 14 km. Their pregnancy is 13 to 26 weeks after the ultrasound is performed. The team then compared the fetal size of more than 15,000 people with pregnant women living in rural areas with fresh air.

"We found an inverse relationship between the level of air pollution in the environment in which women live and the size of the fetus. The higher the concentration of contaminants in the air, the longer the femur length, the The smaller the abdomen and head circumference of the fetus , " commented Dr. Barnett.

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"Many people say that the city of Brisbane is not polluted because the air there looks very clean, but you should know we can't see contaminants with the naked eye. People are close to big and crowded roads. "The greatest risk of exposure to dirty air , " Barnett said.

Dr. Barnett advises pregnant women to minimize exposure to polluted air, especially emissions generated by motor vehicles.

Barnett and colleagues' research was published in Environmental Health Perspectives.