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Environmental Pollution and the Developing Lung
Judith A Voynow1, Richard Auten2
1Division of Pediatric Pulmonology, Children's Hospital of Richmond at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23298.
Clinical Pulmonary Medicine
|January 13, 2021
Summary
Prenatal exposure to air pollution, including tobacco smoke and fossil fuel emissions, harms infant lung development and increases risks for respiratory diseases like asthma and COPD. These early exposures can have lifelong consequences for lung health.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Health
- Pediatric Respiratory Medicine
- Toxicology
Background:
- Environmental tobacco smoke and fossil fuel combustion pollutants pose risks to infants and children.
- Indoor and outdoor air pollution worsen existing chronic respiratory diseases and infections.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the impact of antenatal (prenatal) air pollution exposures on infant and child respiratory health.
- To examine how maternal exposure to pollutants affects fetal lung development and long-term respiratory outcomes.
Main Methods:
- Review of scientific literature, including rodent and primate studies on maternal pollutant exposure.
- Analysis of epidemiological studies investigating the effects of air pollution on infant and child lung function.
Main Results:
- Maternal exposure to tobacco smoke and air pollutants causes in utero growth retardation, lung remodeling, and immune activation in animal models.
- Epidemiologic data show prenatal air pollution exposure reduces lung function in children, potentially persisting into adulthood.
- These exposures increase the risk of asthma and respiratory infection morbidity in early life.
Conclusions:
- Environmental air pollutants contribute to the childhood origins of chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD).
- Prenatal pollution exposure impairs normal lung development, promotes inflammation, and limits repair capacity.
- Early-life air pollution exposure increases susceptibility to adult-onset lung disease and reduces resilience to environmental and infectious challenges.
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