Image: Exposure to air pollution during pregnancy linked to ADHD, EurActiv
The serious health effects of particulate matter air pollution are wide ranging and well known. Short term and long term exposure causes premature death, particularly from cardiac and pulmonary disease, and is associated with dementia and many other diseases. Long-term exposure can impede lung development and cause chronic respiratory diseases in children.
Exposure during pregnancy is associated with ADHD, autism, obesity, and other diseases in children, and causes an estimated 15,000 premature births in the United States every year
A study released today in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives adds an important new piece of information – the cost of the premature births alone is over $4 Billion per year.
The lead study author, Leonardo Trasande of the Department of Pediatrics, New York University School of Medicine, emphasizes that these health impacts and costs are preventable:
“This really speaks to the need to continue with efforts to reduce air pollution
from coal-fired power plants and vehicle exhaust”
Learn more from the infographic the links below.
To read the complete journal article, visit:
Particulate Matter Exposure and Preterm Birth: Estimates of U.S. Attributable Burden and Economic Costs, Environmental Health Perspectives
For more information, see:
- Yearly cost of US premature births linked to air pollution: $4.33 billion, American Association for the Advancement of Science
- Preterm Births Linked to Air Pollution Cost Billions in the U.S, Time Magazine
- Premature births linked to air pollution cost U.S. billions, CBS News
- Exposure to airborne particulate matter during pregnancy is associated with preterm birth: a population-based cohort study, National Institutes of Health
- Outdoor Air Pollution, Preterm Birth, and Low Birth Weight: Analysis of the World Health Organization Global Survey on Maternal and Perinatal Health, Environmental Health Perspectives
- Exposure to air pollution during pregnancy linked to ADHD, EurActiv
- Does Air Pollution Cause Dementia? – Scientists now suspect that a major cause of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s could be the air we breathe, Mother Jones
- A Longitudinal Cohort Study of Body Mass Index and Childhood Exposure to Secondhand Tobacco Smoke and Air Pollution: The Southern California Children’s Health Study, Environmental Health Perspectives
- Fine Particulate Air Pollution Linked with Increased Autism Risk, Neuroscience News’