Air pollution seems to affect unborn girls more than boys, resulting in more pre-term girls than boys being born when pregnant woman are exposed to extreme air particulate pollution, researchers have found.
In addition to the infant mortality effect, air pollution results in earlier births, more of which are girls, Amir Jina, an environmental economist and Assistant Professor at the Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago, said from his yet-to-be-published study on the impact of particulate matter on infant mortality and fertility in developing countries.
“We however need to find out whether this is happening through pollution effects on the foetus itself by air pollution passing through the mother’s blood stream through the placenta to the baby, or if it is something happening to the mother,” he told indiaclimatedialogue.net
