Could portable oxygen be useful for mums-to-be in polluted areas?
It may be worthwhile for pregnant women to use portable oxygen when they are exposed to air pollution, as it has been found breathing in certain particles can lead to premature birth.
Researchers at the University of California found mums-to-be are at a 30 per cent greater risk of delivering a pre-term child if they are surrounded by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH).
Meanwhile ammonium nitrate can make this eventuality 21 per cent more likely and an increase of ten per cent is seen with fine particulate matter from diesel fumes and benzene.
Dr Beate Ritz, who worked on the study, which was published in BioMed Central's journal Environmental Health, said "accurate modelling" of air pollution needs to be undertaken and used by policymakers.
"Our results show that traffic-related PAH are of special concern as pollutants and that PAH sources besides traffic contributed to premature birth," she added.
The World Health Organization recently warned the majority of people living in urban areas across the globe are exposed to air pollution higher than the 20 micrograms per cubic metre of PN10 particles per year that its guidelines recommend as a maximum.
Posted by Stewart Elliott
07/10/2011 17:14:35
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