Pollution and pregnancy
[3] PAHs have been reported to administer their toxic effects through oxidative stress by increasing the production of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) which can result in inflammation and cell death.
[7] In Turkey, a study examined the fertility of men who work as toll collectors and are therefore exposed to high levels of traffic pollutants daily.
However, there have been studies which suggest that high levels of ozone pollution, often a problem in the summer months, exert an effect on in vitro fertilisation (IVF) outcomes.
[8] In terms of male fertility, ozone is reported to cause a significant decrease in the concentration and count of sperm in semen after exposure.
[9] Similarly, sperm vitality, the proportion of live spermatozoa in a sample, was demonstrated to be diminished as a result of exposure to air pollution.
Two studies were conducted to evaluate the effects of nitrogen dioxide on fetuses in the southern United States as well as Valencia, Spain.
Because CO competes with Oxygen to achieve dispersion throughout the blood stream, fetal hypoxia (lack of oxygen) may result at high levels of maternal CO exposure, however the exact amount of exposure of CO to become a fetal threat is unknown [16] High levels of carbon monoxide are also found in cigarettes, it is advised that pregnant women avoid smoking so as to not run the risk of affecting their child's growth or mental development.
High exposure to nitrogen dioxide may cause fetal mutations, damage a developing fetus, and decrease a woman's ability to become pregnant.
Studies have also shown that higher exposures to NO inhibit embryo development during both traditional pregnancies and artificial inseminations [18][19] Examples of particulate matter include ash from smoke in campfires, dust particles around your house, and smoke coming from car exhaust pipes; in areas close to freeways this is a problem.
A study conducted on European women indicated that higher exposure to particulate matter during the initial first weeks of their pregnancy resulted in low birth weight babies [20] This toxin is also considered to be the most dangerous of the three because it can be basically anything small enough to be inhaled.
Babies born of low weight are also at risk for respiratory, gastrointestinal, cardiac, CNS, infection and vision problems.
These gestational issues persist until the adult years for most children and result in high blood pressure, Type II Diabetes, and other heart diseases.
Exposure to air pollution not only affects newborns in early stages of their development, it can also have lifelong consequences for children exposed from the time of conception to when they reach two years of age.
This study found that babies who were exposed to higher levels of pollutants while in the womb had a 10% higher risk of autism than babies who had low levels of exposure; another finding from this study is that fine particulates had the strongest association with autism [31] Motor vehicle emissions are not solely a United States issue.
These standards have been added because it is shown that regulating fuel economy is effective in controlling oil demands for the country as well as reducing their greenhouse emissions.
An epidemiological study conducted by the National Institute of Health compared pregnancy loss to local vehicle emissions, specifically nitrogen dioxide (NO₂).
