Death by Air: Can pollution cause stillbirth?

The many ill effects of air pollution are well known, but did you know that toxic air can also be a cause of stillbirths?

A new study has found that nearly a million stillbirths around the world can be attributed to air pollution, reported The Guardian.

The study published in Nature Communications shows that air pollution accounted for around 39.7 per cent of stillbirths in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in 2015.

What has the research found about the effects of air pollution on stillbirths and how do countries fare? Let’s take a closer look.

Air pollution and stillbirths

As many as 2 million stillbirths are recorded each year, according to the United Nations Interagency Group for Child Mortality Estimation.

Fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) can lead to almost half of stillbirths globally, the new study has estimated.

PM 2.5 particles are mostly emanated from vehicles, the burning of fossil fuels, and wildfires.

The research, however, does not cover how small particle pollution could cause stillbirths, noted The Guardian.

The scientists studied data on stillbirths and air pollution between 1998 and 2016 from 54 LMICs. This was used to reckon the number of stillbirths that were caused due to PM2.5 exposure across the 137 LMIC countries, reported The Guardian.

The study, led by environmental scientist and public health specialist Tao Xue at Beijing’s Peking University Health Science Center, has found that a ten microgram per cubic metre rise in PM 2.5 particles surges the risk of stillbirth by 11 per cent. The toll enhances as the mother’s age increases.

The World Health Organization (WHO) had set a reference level, or maximum safe exposure, of PM2.5 at 5 micrograms per cubic metre of air in 2021, the Time report said.

The World Bank says the average global concentration of PM 2.5 is 46 micrograms per cubic metre, nine times the reference level set by WHO, the report added.

“Meeting the WHO air quality targets could prevent a considerable number of stillbirths,” the scientists noted in the study, as per The Guardian.

“Current efforts to prevent stillbirth focus on medical service improvements but compared to clinical risk factors, environmental ones are usually unseen,” they added.

“Among all subtypes of pregnancy loss, stillbirth was most strongly associated with PM2.5 exposure. In addition, advanced maternal age significantly enhanced the PM 2.5 – stillbirth association”, the study said.

It is unclear how PM 2.5 causes stillbirths but the study tries to explain it to some extent.

The researchers observed that pollution particles going via the placenta could cause “irreversible embryonic damage” and could also harm the placenta, leading to failure in the sustenance of a fetus throughout pregnancy.

Improve air quality

According to the research, the global stillbirth rate declined by 1.95 per cent from 2000 to 2009, and again by 2.05 per cent from 2009 to 2019. The study attributed this to “clean air policies” enacted by countries like China.

“Due to universal exposure to air pollution, it is one of the most important contributors to global stillbirth,” Xue was quoted as saying by The Guardian.

How do countries fare?

According to the study, India reported the most PM 2.5-related stillbirths out of these selected 137 low-and middle-income countries.

With a PM 2.5 concentration of 60.15 micrograms per cubic metre of air, India witnessed an average of 2,17,000 stillbirths per year.

Notably, another study – World Air Quality Report 2022 by Swiss organization IQAir – released earlier this year claimed that air pollution is the second biggest reason affecting the health of humans in India.

Meanwhile, as per the study in Nature Communications, Pakistan was the second worst affected country which recorded 1,10,000 stillbirths annually, while pollution was at 63.16 micrograms.

ALSO READ: India’s burden: How air pollutants are causing a rise in anaemia among women

The highest fraction of stillbirths traceable to PM2.5 were in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Niger and the UAE. “South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the Arabian Desert were hotspots of PM2.5-related stillbirths, due to high exposure and baseline stillbirth rate”, the research added.

In a worrying observation, the researchers said that while the global number of stillbirths was declining, about half the LMIC countries assessed did not see a fall, reported The Guardian.

Professor Gregory Wellenius, the director of the Center for Climate and Health at Boston University in the US, told The Guardian, “This study is novel and demonstrates that at current levels air pollution contributes to a substantial number of stillbirths around the world.

“Health impact assessments such as this are always based on a number of important assumptions. Although the fraction of stillbirths that might be prevented through meaningful reductions in PM2.5 is uncertain, the study adds to the abundance of scientific evidence showing that reducing air pollution levels would improve the health of people around the world, particularly among the most vulnerable individuals.”

With inputs from agencies

Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook ,  Twitter  and  Instagram .