Prenatal exposure to pollution harmful for kids
May 21st, 2012 - 3:01 pm ICT by IANSWashington, May 21 (IANS) Prenatal exposure to air pollution through the mother can be especially serious for asthmic children, says a new study.
Researchers looked at several pollutants, including carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone and particulate matter. Exposure to nitrogen dioxide during the first and second trimesters was tied with lower pulmonary function growth in both girls and boys.
“We found that prenatal exposures to airborne particles and the pollutant nitrogen dioxide adversely affect pulmonary (lung) function growth among asthmatic children between six and 15 years of age,” said Amy Padula, post-doctoral fellow at the University of California - Berkeley, who led the study.
The study was conducted as part of the Fresno Asthmatic Children’s Environment Study (FACES), which examines the influence of prenatal exposure to a number of ambient air pollutants on the growth of lung function during childhood and teen years in a high pollution area, said a university statement.
Researchers included repeated evaluations of 162 asthmatic children aged between six and 15 years and their mothers. The mothers’ residences during pregnancy were geocoded and pollutant concentrations were obtained from the Aerometric Information Retrieval System supported by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
“This finding adds to the evidence that current air pollution levels continue to have adverse effects on human health,” Padula said.
“Few studies have examined prenatal exposure to air pollution and subsequent lung function in childhood. These results suggest that we need to be doing a better job to reduce traffic-related air pollution,” Padula added.
The study will be presented at the ATS 12 International Conference in San Francisco.
- Exposure to air pollution linked to reduced heart rate variability - Jul 10, 2010
- Air pollution worsens asthma symptoms in children - Oct 06, 2010
- Kids in mouldy homes more at risk of asthma - Aug 04, 2011
- PFCs weaken immune response to vaccine shots in childhood - Jan 25, 2012
- Prenatal exposure to pollutants linked to behavioural problems in children - Apr 13, 2011
- Living near freeway may be linked to autism - Dec 18, 2010
- Traffic pollution can double breast cancer risk - Oct 07, 2010
- Prenatal pesticide exposure, childhood cough are linked - Sep 06, 2012
- Traffic pollution 'makes childhood asthma worse' - Oct 31, 2010
- Pollution ups odds of premature birth by 30 percent - Oct 07, 2011
- High pollution levels ups heart attack chances - Sep 21, 2011
- Living in a city makes you fat, infertile, depressed - Nov 22, 2011
- Pregnant mums using paracetamol 'may up risk of childhood asthma' - Nov 11, 2010
- Prenatal air pollution exposure 'adversely affects kids' cognitive development' - Apr 21, 2010
- Air pollution affects lung function in kids with asthma - Apr 16, 2008
Tags: aerometric information retrieval, air pollutants, air pollution levels, airborne particles, asthmatic children, environment study, environmental protection agency, girls and boys, information retrieval system, lung function, nitrogen dioxide, padula, pollutant concentrations, post doctoral fellow, prenatal exposure, pulmonary function, trimesters, university of california berkeley, us environmental protection agency, us environmental protection agency epa