Exposure to traffic pollution during pregnancy can damage future child's lungs

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-10/bmj-ett101614.php

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 20-Oct-2014

Contact: Emma Dickinson
BMJ-British Medical Journal
Exposure to traffic pollution during pregnancy can damage future child's lungs
Policies to cut exposure to traffic air pollution could prevent damage to future children's lungs, say researchers

Exposure to pollution during the second trimester of pregnancy in particular raises the risk of harm to a child's lungs, underlining the multiple public health benefits of policies to reduce exposure to air pollution, say researchers.

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Children whose mothers lived in a high traffic air pollution area for benzene during the second trimester of pregnancy had a 22% higher risk of impaired lung function than those living in less polluted areas.

The risk for children of mothers living in a high traffic air pollution area for NO2 during their second trimester was 30% higher than those from less polluted areas.

Stronger associations between higher levels of pollution around pregnant women and poorer lung function in their subsequent children appeared among allergic children and those of lower social class.

However, there was no significant evidence of an association between early postnatal life (during the first year of life), recent and current exposures to outdoor air pollutants with lung function at preschool age.

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