Recently, a new study has shown that the increase in air pollution, can affect the successful birth rates from women trying to get pregnant through IVF.
How This Is Affecting Pregnancy
The air quality can drastically affect the health of a baby in the womb. Specially, when the baby is being conceived through the help of IVF treatments. The air quality has been linked to being the cause of many miscarriages for many years. The microscopic polluted air particles have been seen going in to the bloodstream and to the placenta. However, more recent research has shown that the pollution has affected the form of conception. This means that pollution has a big impact on women and men’s fertility.
“We observed that the odds of having a baby after a frozen embryo transfer were more than a third lower for women who were exposed to the highest levels of particulate matter air pollution prior to egg collection, compared with those exposed to the lowest levels,” said fertility specialist Dr Sebastian Leathersich.
The Environment is Getting Worse
Air pollution is one of the biggest threats to human kind and every other living being on earth. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there have been 6.7 million deaths in 2019 due to the horrible air quality. The soot particles are inhaled through the lungs and passed on to every other part of the body, damaging it with time. It has been found to cause heart disease, some cancers, and even dementia.
Many people are not aware of the risks that come with simply breathing the air outside, however the big corporations causing the pollution do. In order to have better air quality at least at home, it is recommended to have air filters in every room of the house, as well as many plants.
Written by Erika Cano
Sources:
The Guardian: Air pollution can decrease odds of live birth after IVF by 38%, study finds
Independent: Air pollution reduces chances of successful IVF, study finds
Top and Featured Image courtesy of Erika Cano – AI Generated Image