WASHINGTON—A new study suggests when a pregnant woman breathes in air pollution, it can travel beyond her lungs to the placenta that guards her fetus.
Pollution composed of tiny particles from car exhaust, factory smokestacks, and other sources is dangerous to everyone’s health, and during pregnancy, it’s been linked to premature births and low birth weight. But scientists don’t understand why, something that could affect care for women in highly polluted areas. One theory is that the particles lodge in mom’s lungs and trigger potentially harmful inflammation.
