Air Pollution Likely Causes Up to 6 Million Premature Births, Study Finds | Air pollution

Air pollution is likely to be responsible for up to 6 million premature births and 3 million underweight babies each year around the world, research shows.

The analysis, which combines the results of several scientific studies, is the first to calculate the total global burden of outdoor and indoor air pollution combined.

Indoor pollution, mainly from stoves burning solid fuels such as charcoal or wood, accounted for nearly two-thirds of the total pollution burden on pregnancies in 2019, according to the latest findings. This is especially true in developing regions, such as parts of Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

“At the individual level, exposure to indoor air pollution appears to carry a much greater burden compared to outdoor levels,” said Rakesh gosh, epidemiologist at the University of California at San Francisco and principal investigator on the article, published in the journal Plos Medicine. “So minimizing exposure to household pollution, where possible, should be part of the message during antenatal care, especially when household pollution is prevalent. “

Air pollution is typically measured by exposure to particles smaller than 2.5 microns: once inhaled, the tiny size of these particles allows them to be absorbed deep into the bloodstream, potentially causing serious health problems.

Over 92% of the world’s population live in areas where the outdoor air quality is below the limits recommended by the World Health Organization, and around 49% are exposed to similarly high levels of indoor air pollution.

Regions like South and East Asia are the most polluted, with Bangladesh, China, India and Pakistan home to 49 of the 50 most polluted cities in the world. In recent years, forest fires, farm fires and dust storms have also caused significant air pollution.

The cost of air pollution to the global economy is estimated to be over $ 2.9 billion every year, in addition to serious damage to public health.

For this study, Ghosh’s team looked at 108 research articles on indoor and outdoor pollution correlated with four main pregnancy risks – gestational birth age, reduced birth weight, low birth weight, and birth weight. premature – for 204 countries.

After controlling for risk factors such as pregnancy weight, smoking and alcohol consumption, and nutrition, researchers found that air pollution was one of the leading causes of being underweight in birth and premature birth. The latter is one of the main causes of the 15 million newborn deaths worldwide each year.

The conclusions build on previous research by Ghosh and colleagues, who calculated that air pollution contributed to the deaths of 500,000 newborns worldwide in 2019.

By minimizing air pollution in Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, the study calculated that the number of premature births and low birth weight babies could be reduced by nearly 78% globally. .