A new study has revealed that maternal exposure to toxic pollutants in the atmosphere can potentially lead to silent miscarriages. Researchers from 4 universities namely Beijing Normal University, Capital Medical University, Peking University and Tongji University plus from the Chinese Academy of Sciences analysed records of 255,668 pregnant women in Beijing from 2009 to 2017 to determine the results.
With exposure to PM 2.5, sulphur dioxide, ozone and carbon monoxide, the risk of missed abortion in the first trimester increases in older women, female farmers. And pregnant woman who got exposed to air pollutants such as particulate matter (PM) 2.5, sulphur dioxide (SO2), ozone (O3) and carbon monoxide (CO) have suffered missed abortion in the first trimester (MAFT) or missed miscarriage. The study has been published in the journal Nature Sustainability.
When a foetus stops growing or has died, but there are no physical symptoms such as bleeding or pain MAFT occurs. Women are often unaware that their pregnancy has ended as it takes place before 12 weeks of gestation. The researchers examined the role of four airborne pollutants: PM2.5, SO2, O3 and CO and found that 17,497 (6.8 per cent) women experienced MAFT.
Women older than 39 years at conception, female farmers and blue-collared workers have an increased risk of MAFT with exposure to each air pollutant. The study claims that pollutants penetrating the bloodstream of a foetus might interact with its tissue components to produce pathological effects, leading to irreversible damage to the dividing cells of the foetus and triggering hypoxic harm or immune affecting injury during critical periods of development.