Study links pollutant exposure to genetic changes in babies

A study of New York City newborns suggests that prenatal exposure to air pollution may be linked to genetic changes associated with an increased risk of cancer, researchers said today.

The study by Columbia University followed 60 newborns and their non-smoking mothers in low-income New York neighbourhoods, primarily in Harlem and the Bronx.

Their exposure to combustion-related pollutants caused primarily by vehicles was measured by backpack air monitors worn by the women during the third trimester of their pregnancies.

When the babies were born, genetic alterations were measured. Researchers found about a 50% increase in the level of persistent genetic abnormalities in the infants who had the higher levels of exposure, said Dr Frederica Perera, director of the centre and senior author of the study.

“We already knew that air pollutants significantly reduced foetal growth, but this is the first time we’ve seen evidence that they can change chromosomes in utero,” Perera said.

She said the kind of genetic changes that occurred have been linked in other studies to increased risk of cancer.

“While we can’t estimate the precise increase in cancer risk,” Perera said, the findings underscore the need for the US government to take steps to protect children.

The study, published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention, is part of a broader research project started in 1998 that examines the health effects of exposure of pregnant women and babies to air pollutants, pesticides and tobacco smoking.