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Updated: Aug 12, 2026

Construction of Vapor Chambers Used to Expose Mice to Alcohol During the Equivalent of all Three Trimesters of Human Development
Published on: July 13, 2014
Abstract:
Intrauterine growth retardation is the most reliable consequence of prenatal exposure to alcohol in both humans and animals. The decrease in fetal growth is caused by alcohol, not by congeners present in alcoholic beverages. The most likely hypothesis whereby alcohol decreases growth is via hypoxia, which interferes with cellular processes that require oxygen to function adequately, e.g., placental transport and protein synthesis. The third trimester of pregnancy is when alcohol exerts its greatest impact on fetal growth.
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