Pregnant women exposed to poor air quality, especially in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, may be at higher risk of miscarriages and stillbirths, as per a modelling study conducted in The Lancet Planetary Health journal.
Researchers found that an estimated 349,681 pregnancy losses per year in south Asia were associated with exposure to PM2.5 concentrations that exceeded India’s air quality standard of 40 microgrammes per cubic metre (?g/m3) of small particulate matter (PM2.5).
These account for 7 per cent of annual pregnancy loss in the region from 2000-2016, study found. Of top-10 most air polluted in countries in the world, four are from Asia. While, Pakistan is most polluted country in the world. Afghanistan is at third position. Bangladesh (fourth) and India (ninth).
For air pollution above world health organization (WHO) air quality guideline of of 10 ?g/m3, exposure may have contributed to 29 per cent of pregnancy losses, according to the study.
South Asia has the highest burden of pregnancy loss globally and is one of the most PM2.5 polluted regions in the world,” said study lead author Tao Xue, from Peking University, China.
