Air Pollution Exposure in the Womb May Increase Cerebral Palsy Risks, Study Warns

Researchers suggest particulate matter may cause inflammation in a developing fetus, as well as cause structural brain changes and disrupt growth.

Infants exposed to high levels of certain types of air pollution during pregnancy appear to face a greater risk of developing cerebral palsy, according to the findings of a new study.

Cerebral palsy is a neurological disorder that results from damage to the brain before, during or shortly after birth, resulting in severe developmental problems, loss of motor functions and other life-long injuries and disabilities. The condition is one of the most common motor disabilities among children, impacting about one out of every 365 children.

While cerebral palsy is often the result of a medical mistake during delivery that results in a loss of oxygen to the brain, there are also a number of other potential causes, which researchers continue to explore as part of an effort to reduce the number of children left with the incurable disability.

Air Pollution and Cerebral Palsy Risks

In a study published this week in the medical journal JAMA Network Open, researchers from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health indicate that the risk of cerebral palsy was higher among infants who were exposed to certain particulate matter compared to infants who had no exposure to air pollution, suggesting that the air pollution may cause inflammation in a developing fetus, structural brain changes and disrupt growth.

A team of researchers led by Dr. Yu Zhang examined data on more than 1.5 million full-term births from all hospitals in Ontario, Canada between 2002 to 2017, including information from province-wide health administrative databases. They then compared weekly average concentrations of different types of air pollution during pregnancy, including fine particulate matter PM 2.5 or smaller, nitrogen dioxide, ozone.

Particulate matter PM 2.5 is a type of air pollution made up of ultra-tiny particles of soot, dirt, and droplets. The particles are smaller than 2.5 micrometers, or 70 smaller than the width of a single human hair, making it easy to enter the airways and the bloodstream.

Study authors also tracked air pollution exposure at the mother’s residence, with measurements taken from satellite-based estimates and ground-level monitoring data collected at delivery.

Across the study period, a total of 3,170 children were diagnosed with cerebral palsy, accounting for roughly 0.02% of all children in the study.

According to the findings, infants exposed to higher levels of PM 2.5 faced a greater likelihood of being diagnosed with cerebral palsy. For every 2.7 increase in residential PM 2.5 air pollution, infants experienced a 1.12 times higher risk of having cerebral palsy.

Researchers suggest air pollution may increase the risk of cerebral palsy because the chemicals in particulate matter are linked with structural brain changes and disrupt the way the growing brain develops.

Air pollution also increases the levels of inflammation in the body, which can cause increased inflammation in a growing fetus and also impact brain development during pregnancy.

“In this large cohort study of singleton full term births in Canada, prenatal ambient PM2.5 exposure was associated with an increased risk of CP in offspring,” Zhang concluded. “Further studies are needed to explore this association and its potential biological pathways, which could advance the identification of environmental risk factors of CP in early life.”

Cerebral Palsy Lawsuits

Since cerebral palsy is sometimes the result of a medical error during pregnancy, labor or delivery, the injury is often the subject of birth injury lawsuits pursued by families of children diagnosed with the condition.

While many factors may cause cerebral palsy, if it can be established that the exercise of the proper standards of medical care could have prevented the child’s brain from being deprived of oxygen, parents may be able to obtain financial compensation through a cerebral palsy lawsuit, including benefits to provide life-long treatments required by the disability.