Air pollution would be harmful to fetuses in utero. This is affirmed by a new study conducted by scientists from Inserm, CNRS and the University of Grenoble, published this Thursday, June 21, 2018 *. According to their research, exposure to atmospheric pollution in utero, particularly nitrogen dioxide, leads to epigenetic changes in the placenta.
Previous studies have shown that pollution is harmful to the health of both the mother and the fetus.
Risk of malformations and neuro-developmental disorders
The risk of pre-eclampsia in the future mother (a serious illness if it is not supported) but also the weight of the baby at birth, degraded functioning of the lungs, neuro-developmental disorders and the risk of High blood pressure are the risks listed by the researchers. These pathologies and malformations are notably due to an alteration of the placenta.
The study was conducted among 668 mothers and their babies, in the university hospitals (CHU) of Nancy and Poitiers, between 2003 and 2006. The mothers most exposed to nitrogen dioxide (which emanates from cars or factories) during their pregnancy would thus be exposed to an epigenetic modification of the ADORA2B gene.
Pollution also acts on DNA
This is not the first time that science has noticed a repercussion of air pollution on the expression of our genes. In January 2018, a study published in Environment International showed that pollution also affects fetal DNA.
The research was conducted on infants born in Tongliang, China, before and after the closure of a coal-fired plant in 2004. Children born before closure had shorter telomeres (end of a chromosome) than infants. born after closure, and would be related to aging, cancer and cardiovascular disease development , cognitive decline or premature death.
* www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412017320433
