Now diesel fumes harm babies while still in the womb

Air pollution is to blame for one in 11 deaths

DIESEL fumes begin to harm babies before they are even born, research suggests.

Pregnant women exposed to sooty particles in diesel exhaust emissions are more likely to have children with damaged DNA, scientists found.

Blood samples taken from the placenta and umbilical cord at birth showed signs of damage to the chromosomes, a problem thought to be linked to shorter life expectancy.

The Belgian researchers found that exposure to pollution in the second trimester – between the fourth and sixth months of pregnancy when the foetus grows rapidly – had the biggest impact.

Britain is notoriously bad at controlling air pollution, with 37 cities persistently displaying illegal levels. The problem has seen the Govern-

From Saturday’s Mail

ment repeatedly hauled into court. A report by the European Environment Agency estimated more than 52,240 premature deaths were caused by air pollution each year in Britain – one in 11 deaths.

Of these, 37,600 deaths were attributed to tiny polluting particles known as PM2.5, which are a particular problem in diesel car emissions. But the latest research, from Hasselt University, suggests these figures may be an underestimate.

Its team tracked 641 pregnant women in Belgium between February 2010 and December 2014 and examined their exposure to PM2.5 by comparing their home address to air monitoring data.

At birth, they took blood samples from the placenta and umbilical cord.

The scientists examined the babies’ telomeres – the tiny caps found on the ends of DNA strands often compared to the plastic protect deteriorating.tips chromosomesof shoelaces, which from Babies whose mothers had been exposed to more pollution had shorter, more frayed telomeres, which scientists say are a good estimate of biological age. They found for every fivemicrogram increase in PM2.5 levels across the entire pregnancy, umbilical cord telomeres were 8.8 per cent shorter, and the placenta telomeres were 13.2 per cent shorter. Babies whose mothers had lived in polluted areas in the second trimester alone showed a 9.4 per cent reduction in umbilical cord telomeres.

Writing in the medical journal JAMA Pediatrics, the researchers said: ‘To our knowledge, this study is the first to report an association between prenatal exposure to PM2.5 air pollution and telomere length at birth, both in cord blood and placental tissue.’

Diesel cars have been promoted since the 1970s as an environmental choice because they emit less carbon dioxide, which causes global warming. Tony Blair’s Labour govern- ment, in particular, used generous tax breaks to persuade drivers to buy diesels. Now there are about 11million diesel drivers in the UK.

But in recent years scientists have realised that diesel also produces more of the tiny particles and nitrogen oxides that damage our health.

Professor Rebecca Reynolds, of Edinburgh University, said: ‘This carefully conducted study adds to the growing literature that environmental exposures in pregnancy impact on offspring health.’ b.spencer@dailymail.co.uk