Essay on Harmful Effect of Air Pollution on Pregnancy

Pollution continues to pose an enormous threat to residents of urban cities worldwide. In the August 2008 Monthly Update, it is stated that approximately 800,000 deaths each year can be attributed to outdoor air pollution, making pollution the single most harmful environmental hazard to human health in urban areas (Kallman). The fact that pollution kills hundreds of thousands of people each year alone portrays just how dangerous living in these conditions can be. Kallman writes about a study which proves an increase in upper respiratory diseases, cardiovascular mortality, respiratory mortality, and low birth weights when exposed to air pollutants (August 2008: Monthly Update). These can be very serious diseases and complications which, when contracted, can lead to death or very serious illnesses. There

SIDS spontaneously occurs to an infant where they stop breathing leading to death. After adjustment for demographic and other factors and for other pollutants, it was found that 47% increase in (Cl) Chlorine for respiratory causes and 56% increase in (Cl) Chlorine towards the ozone and infantile deaths. Research has shown that the neighborhood-level socioeconomic status that you are born into heavily influences the individual level exposure to hazardous materials and air pollution. This study provides further support for Particle Matter (PM) air pollution as a risk factor for respiratory-related post neonatal infant mortality and suggests that pollution chemicals such as carbon monoxide may play a role in SIDS. In general, persons with lower socio-economic status (SES) had higher estimated exposures, based on indicators of education, unemployment, poverty, and

Louis. When living in a hard up income area there is always a tightly packed space between older automobiles, busses, and trucks. This destroyed the ozone, which would bring about cardiovascular problems such as asthma attacks. In the article Gammon states that "In Southern California communities , exposure through air pollution and traffic emissions stunts children's lung growth ,according to USC research " This hints that if a child happens to live nearby or is nearby a polluted area he or she is unprotected and is exposed to having

Khazan first begins the article by sharing with the readers her childhood experience growing up in the industrial city of Los Angeles. She reported that nine percent of the asthma cases at her school were due to the intensity of traffic fumes produced by the five-hundred trucks per hour passing her elementary school campus. She continues on to say that air pollution is not just a contributor to asthma, but to many other medical issues. Although these statistics are not directly correlated to affecting a child's intelligence, it can be assumed that constant inhalation of toxic fumes can not be good for brain development.

Women around world, especially pregnant women, are highly exposed to environmental contaminants by eating foods as well. Though, many pregnant women are not aware of high toxin levels present in food they eat and how much their infants are exposed through trans-placental and breast milk transmission from the mother. The article Dozens of Words for Snow, None for Pollution, by Maria Cone, talks about how pregnant women in Artic are at

The relationship between maternal smoking and fetal development shows that smoking raises the risk of early miscarriage and stillbirth. In the early stages of fetal development, cigarette smoke may cause genetic damage to the unborn baby. Smoking can change the lining of the uterus making it harder for the implantation of the fertilized egg. The dangerous chemicals found in cigarettes can cause a mother’s placenta to separate from the womb at a premature time. Smoking later in pregnancy appears to decrease the placenta’s ability to deliver nutrients to a developing baby. Some evidence even indicates that heavy smoking by

"Air pollution affects preterm birthrates globally, study finds." Washingtonpost.com, 23 Feb. 2017. Student Resources in Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A482361512/SUIC?u=pioneer&xid=4fd95546. Accessed 27 Apr. 2017.

As previously mentioned, environmental factors, such as exposure to taratogens, can affect the development of the unborn child. Broderick and Blewitt (2105) define a teratogen as “substances or agents that can cross the placental barrier and produce fetal deformities when taken or absorbed by the mother during pregnancy” (p.619). These substances include drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, pollution, stress hormones, poor nutrition, and diseases, such as AIDS. Consumption of drugs and/or alcohol can lead to low birth weight, as well as, physical, cognitive, and behavioral abnormalities. Furthermore, more recent studies are showing that exposure to pollutants can affect an individual’s development. For example, a study of the

The relationship between maternal smoking and fetal development shows that smoking raises the risk of early miscarriage and stillbirth. In the early stages of fetal development, cigarette smoke may cause genetic damage to the unborn baby. Smoking can change the lining of the uterus making it harder for the implantation of the fertilized egg. The dangerous chemicals found in cigarettes can cause a mother’s placenta to separate from the womb at a premature time. Smoking later in pregnancy appears to decrease the placenta’s ability to deliver nutrients to a developing baby. Some evidence even indicates that heavy smoking by

If the pollutants are altering body cells certain parts of the body may not grow properly and more fat would be produced where it doesn’t belong. When these “…chemicals [are present] in the mom’s blood, such as DDE (a by product of the now widely banned pesticide DDT, which lingers in the environment decades later, and is still found in small amounts in many foods such as meat, dairy, and fish)” can alter the development of the fetus and cause problems later in life (1). The children of whom mothers’ had this chemical in their blood while pregnant are even more at risk for obesity without even having bad eating habits. Equally important are the affects it has on children's health and learning.

Evidence suggests a role for particles and other traffic-related components in particular (Chiu et al, 2014). Exposure to environmental toxicants, such as air pollution starting in utero, couple potentially alter course of lung growth and affect both the structure and function of the respiratory system. Studies link prenatal air pollution exposure, including fine particulate matter and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, with wheeze, respiratory tract infections, and reduced lung function in

Among its short-term health effects, according to cleanhouston.org, are reduce ability to breathe, inflammation of the lung tissue, as well as irritation of the nose and throat, and damage to the respiratory cells. If well this problems do not represent a life-threatening problem for most of the people, children and the elderly, who do not possess a very strong respiratory system. It is been proved that pollution has effects on the children illness already existing in the elderly can be aggravated by pollution, which can put their lives on severe

2012, 268). Today clinical studies have proven air pollution causes lower birth weight, growth retardation and malformations, particularly in soft tissue (Connell et al. 2012, 268). Many women in urban centres would have spent long times in areas of higher air pollution especially due to the low ventilation in houses and rooms, such as the kitchen. These occupation and living conditions can have substantial effects on health and by taking a wider socio-cultural, environmental and historical context (Swales 2013, 319-320) the link between these and health can be examined.

Air is an indispensable part of human, animal and plant lives. Without it, no organisms would be able to survive on Earth (Reference, 2017). Due to excessive human activities, air pollution has become a detrimental worldwide issue in current days (Sciencing, 2017). However, scientists have found new chemicals that can assist in improving the air quality (Phys.org, 2017). Moreover, humans are able to adopt many methods to help decrease the severity of contamination released into the earth’s atmosphere. This investigation is linked to ‘application and limitation’ in ‘science as a Human Endeavour’.

To a great degree the eminent problem is the air pollution we breathe. Who can help amend the air we breathe. In order to improve the quality of the air, people have to be aware of the specific mode of pollution and the effect of it. The traffic-pollution causes affliction and distress to individuals. The reason for this tragedy is due in part by every one of us. High concentration of vehicle exhausts is the main source of air pollution in urban areas. Neighborhoods in proximity to heavy traffic areas can negatively impact a community’s health conditions and outcomes. Those people that are disproportionately exposed to great levels of exhaust fumes are those who have a low socioeconomic and educational status and are part of race/ethnicity