Every year 15 million premature babies are born in the world and each year there are more births before their time than the previous one. Among the causes of prematurity, maternal conditions or complications in pregnancy are usually pointed out, but environmental factors also have a great influence on gestational health.
A new study from the University of California-San Francisco and the University of Washington warns that air pollution is the likely cause of 6 million preterm births and nearly 3 million low birth weight babies in 2019.
This is the most comprehensive study to date, looking at air pollution, both inside and outside the home, and how it affects several key indicators of pregnancy: gestational age at birth, low birth weight, and preterm labor.
A large-scale data review was conducted in 204 countries and territories, including all WHO member states. The research has taken as a reference the data on contamination by particles less than 2.5 microns in diameter (PM-2.5) in 2019.
The World Health Organization estimates that more than 90 percent of the world’s population lives in an environment with polluted air, and that in addition, half of the world’s population is also exposed to indoor air pollution from burning coal, manure and wood inside the house.
According to the study’s findings, the global incidence of preterm labor and low birth weight could be reduced by almost 78 percent if air pollution were minimized.
The areas of the world most affected by pollution
Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, where indoor pollution is common, preterm birth rates are the highest in the world.
However, air pollution is a global problem, and it is also of great concern in developed countries. In the United States, they believe its effect contributed to nearly 12,000 preterm births in 2019 alone. An earlier study by the same researchers also concluded that air pollution contributed to the deaths of 500,000 newborns worldwide in 2019.
“With this new, global and more rigorously generated evidence, air pollution should now be seen as a major factor in infant morbidity and mortality, not just chronic diseases in adults. Our study suggests that taking steps to mitigate climate change and reduce air pollution levels will have a significant co-benefit for the health of newborns, ”said Rakesh Ghosh, lead author of the study.
In Babies and more | New scientific findings could prevent a large percentage of premature births in the future
