Maternal Exposure to Air Pollution and Fetal Abnormalities

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Congenital anomalies are the main causes of neonatal mortality and morbidity. We performed this systematic review study to investigate the association between mothers’ exposure to air pollution during pregnancy by combining for a variety of air pollutants and anomaly defect outcomes. METHODS: The databases of PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane, Google Scholar, SID, IranMedex and Magiran until May 2018 and reference section of relevant articles, were searched to identify both English and Persian studies on Ambient Air Pollution and Congenital Anomalies. RESULTS: A total of 28 articles from 245 articles were lastly included. The results of studies showed significant association between first trimester exposures to Carbon monoxide (CO), Particulate matter <10 microns (PM10), PM2.5, Ozone (O3), sulfur dioxide( SO2), nitrogen oxide (NO2) and increased risk of specific congenital heart defects , particularly ventricular septal defect (VSD) , tetralogy of fallot (TF), atrial septal defects (ASD), and patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). Also, SO2, NO2, CO and PM10 were significantly associated with cleft palate (CP) with or without cleft palate (CL ± CP) . Some studies show that Air Pollution exposure was associated with neural tube defects, Omphalocele, and Urogenital defects. CONCLUSION: We found some evidence for an effect of ambient air pollutants on congenital anomalies such as congenital heart defects and cleft palate with or without cleft, but confirmation of these associations will be needed in future studies.

Keywords

• Congenital Abnormality
• Congenital Defect
• Air Pollutions
• Maternal Exposures