Air Pollution to Blame for Stillbirths as Toxic Particles Found in Lungs of Fetuses, Global Study Says

According to the first global study, air pollution causes nearly a million stillbirths annually. The fetuses' lungs and brains contained toxic particles.

According to the study, exposure to air pollutant particles PM.25 or those smaller than 2.5 microns, which are primarily produced by burning fossil fuels, may be responsible for nearly half of stillbirths.

Neglected Tragedy

The study included 137 nations from Asia, Africa, and Latin America, which account for 98% of stillbirths. Although the research is the first to estimate the number of fetal deaths, it was already known that dirty air increased the risk of stillbirth. The research was based on information from over 45,000 live births and stillbirths.

In a 2020 report released by Unicef, stillbirths were referred to as a "neglected tragedy." According to the researchers behind the new study, preventing stillbirths would improve women's health and equality because of the severe effects they have on mothers and their families.

The epidemiological study did not look into the potential link between small particle pollution and stillbirths. But it came after the news that toxic air pollution particles had been discovered in fetuses' lungs and brains in October. When air pollution was first discovered in placentas in 2018, it was already well known that dirty air was significantly associated with an increase in premature births, miscarriages, low birth weights, and abnormal brain development.

Meeting air quality targets set by the World Health Organization (WHO) could prevent a significant number of stillbirths, according to a team of scientists led by Dr. Tao Xue from Peking University in China.

Clean Air Policies and Personal Protection

They claimed that while current measures to avoid stillbirth concentrate on enhancing medical services, environmental risk factors are frequently invisible in comparison to clinical risk factors.

According to scientists, countries like China have implemented clean air policies that can reduce the risk of stillbirths. Additionally, vulnerable pregnant women may be protected by taking personal precautions against air pollution, such as installing air purifiers, wearing masks, and staying indoors when air pollution is present.

The study, which was published in the journal Nature Communications, utilized data on stillbirths as well as air pollution from 54 low-income and middle-income (LMIC) nations, including Pakistan, India, and Nigeria, between 1998 and 2016. Taking into account that older mothers were more vulnerable to the effects of poor air quality, this was used to calculate the number of estimated stillbirths due primarily to PM2.5 exposure throughout the 137 LMIC countries.

Exposure to PM2.5

Almost all of the study's mothers were exposed to PM2.5 concentrations that were higher than 5 g/m3, the WHO's current guideline level. According to the study, there have been 2.09 million stillbirths reported in the countries under study in 2015, and 950,000 of them (or 45%) were caused by exposure above the 5 g/m3 level.

In the study, 99% of mothers were exposed to higher levels of smog than the WHO's recommended 10 g/m3 limit for PM2.5. The study discovered that this was related to 830,000 stillbirths, amounting to 40% of the total. In Pakistan, India, Nigeria, and China, the percentage of stillbirths linked to PM2.5 pollution exposure was particularly high. Overall, the researchers discovered that a 10% increase in the risk of stillbirth was associated with an increase in PM2.5 exposure of about 10 g/m3.

Stillbirths, Irreversible Embryonic Damage

From 2.31 million in 2010 down to 1.93 million in 2019, there were fewer stillbirths overall. According to the researchers, decreases in air pollution in some nations, like China, may be a major factor in this decline. They calculated that bringing air pollution down to a level of 10 ug/m3 could currently avert 710,000 stillbirths annually. According to Xue, one of the major causes of stillbirth worldwide is due to people's constant exposure to air pollution.

Although the exact mechanism by which air pollution causes stillbirths is unknown, researchers said that pollution particles traveling through the placenta could harm the placenta itself and cause "irreversible embryonic damage." The mother's body's ability to pass oxygen to the fetus may be hampered by air pollution.

Even though stillbirth rates worldwide were declining, only about half of the LMIC countries evaluated showed a decrease. They noticed that the rate of stillbirth decline was slower than the rate of mortality decline for children under the age of five.

According to the scientists, this implies that interventions on stillbirths are insufficient and that efforts to boost maternal health are uneven for various negative outcomes.

The director of Boston University's Center for Climate and Health, Prof. Gregory Wellenius, who was not involved in the study, said it was groundbreaking and showed that air pollution, at its current levels, causes a sizable portion of stillbirths worldwide.

He added that such health impact analyses are always predicated on several significant assumptions. The study adds to the mountain of research demonstrating that lowering air pollution levels could very well improve health for people all over the world, especially for the most vulnerable people, even though the percentage of stillbirths that could be prevented through significant reductions in PM2.5 is uncertain, The Guardian reports.