Hauries d´instal.lar el plug-in del flash... Descarregar plug-in de Flash

Reports

reports

Epidemiology

Disminuir Aumentar

Pollutants target the young and defenseless

Babies, from the very beginnings of their intrauterine life, are incredibly vulnerable to environmental pollution. Some studies have found a relationship between different pollutants and harmful effects on the health of infants. Now, more in-depth studies, among them by the European-wide study called Chicos, aim to determine to what degree toxins in the atmosphere cause birth defects and adversely affect children's health.

Patricia Moreno | 4may 2010


Photo: Etolane
Particles the size of less than one micron found in polluted air can have adverse effects on human health. Their impact has been best exemplified in the case of adults, but how do they affect babies? Although the evidence of the impact of environmental pollution on this population is still scant, scientists are now taking great strides to investigate further in this area. The immune and detoxification systems of fetuses and infants are immature, making them more vulnerable to exposure to toxins in the environment, reports the project INMA (Childhood and the Environment). No wonder, then, that "recent studies have found that highest level of exposure to toxins occurs during pregnancy," says Jordi Sunyer, director of INMA and co-director of the Center for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL).

The INMA project consists of a network of Spanish research groups that study the impact of contaminants in air, water and food during pregnancy and the infant’s early life and their effects on the child’s growth and development. To date, the INMA project has had the participation of 3,000 pregnant women and has monitored 2,500 babies. The project provides funding for visits of up to four years for new participants and up to 13 years in the case of current participants, but subsequent visits will have to obtain new financing.

By air, water and food

Toxins which pose a danger to the babies are found in air, water and food. Common organic pollutants in the air, such as organochlorines (OC) and some metals, have been associated with intrauterine growth retardation, premature births, low birth weight, postnatal growth retardation and alterations in neurodevelopment that can affect the child’s behavior. In fact, "the levels of pesticides in umbilical cord blood are associated with lower cognitive development at four years of age," says Sunyer. And the first three years of life are critical for the formation of the brain, adds Martine Vrijheid points of CREAL.

Joaquín Salvador: "There was a slight relationship between pollution and congenital heart disease" In the case of water, residues of chlorination, which react with the organic matter and chlorine byproducts, are a cause of concern, Sunyer says. More studies are needed, but some evidence suggests that these by-products of chlorine can affect reproductive health.

Finally, the mother's diet during pregnancy and lactation not only provide the baby the nutrients it needs, but also potential pollutants. We have seen, for example, oily fish rich in omega fatty acids 3, which favor the development of the nervous system, may also contain neurotoxins such as OC and methylmercury. For this reason, eating certain types of fish during pregnancy is discouraged.

The dangers for babies do not end here. Cigarette smoke, noise pollution, allergens, bacteria and other infectious organisms, pesticides, radiation or ultraviolet light are also a threat, as outlined in the project Environmental Health Risks in European Birth Cohorts (Enrieco).

Birth Defects

"The degree of exposure of pregnant women to pollutants depends on many factors: the levels of pollution, where the mother lives, if she works or not, and so on. It is very difficult to find a relationship between a cause and a birth defect," says Joaquin Salvador, head of the Birth Defects Registry of Barcelona (REDCB) of the Public Health Agency of Barcelona (ASPB). This cause-effect relationship can only be established when a nuclear accident such as Chernobyl, for example, occurs. This means that "epidemiological studies can only indirectly relate causes, which is very complicated and therefore the amount of published work to date is relatively weak. However, we found a slight relationship between pollution and congenital heart disease," he adds.

In Atlanta, US, a study of cardiovascular malformations and air pollution was carried out that only saw an association between particulate pollution and one of these malformations, patent ductus arteriosus. In Brisbane, Australia, another study ended with no clear link between air pollution and adverse birth defects and noted that more research was needed.

Despite these inconclusive findings, evidence that reinforces the links between toxins and birth effects is starting to build up. One example is a recent study that found that air pollution causes thickening of the carotid artery wall in children in the city of Los Angeles, reports Sunyer. This result confirms that children also suffer from atherosclerosis due to air pollution, a phenomenon formerly observed in adults in the that city. It is also noted that there is a link between pollution and the progression of atherosclerosis in adults in the work of Nino Künzli of CREAL, and others, published this year in the journal PLoS One.

In this context of uncertainty, REDCB and CREAL and have begun a collaborative effort to study the relationship between pollution and birth defects through the project, Traffic Pollution and the Risk of Birth Defects in Barcelona.

THE ‘CHICOS’ STUDY AND RECOMMENDATIONS What are the effects of environmental pollution on children's health? "In Europe there are about thirty studies that examine this issue, but they are very small and different between countries," says Martine Vrijheid, coordinator of the European project CHICOS, whose main aim is to group these diverse studies together in order to obtain more conclusive results and make recommendations for further research in children’s health, something impossible with the current evidence.

CHICOS began in April 2010 with funding from the Eighth Framework Program of the European Union. By 2012 it is expected to have the first results on different aspects (lifestyles, toxins such as cigarettes and alcohol, genetics, nutrition and pollution) that may affect the health of both mother and child. The collaborating countries are Denmark, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom and Spain.

Comments

       
0 comments
 
Global Global Global Global
RSS