Wildfires are now the leading source of unhealthy levels of air pollution for pregnant women in the United States, researchers say.
They studied roughly 64.5 million pregnancies in 48 states between 2003 and 2019, analyzing neighborhood exposure to tiny airborne particles 2.5 micrometers or less in diameter that travel deep into the lungs and bloodstream.
The major sources of PM2.5 pollution are vehicle exhaust, industrial emissions, and wildfires.
Prenatal exposure to PM2.5 declined substantially between 2003 and 2019, but the contribution of wildfire smoke more than doubled, from around 3.7% to 8.2% overall.
By 2019, wildfire smoke was the dominant contributor to high-pollution days experienced during U.S. pregnancies, researchers reported in Frontiers in Environmental Health.
By 2019, approximately 65% of "exceedance days" - during which PM2.5 pollution exceeded 35 micrograms of particles per cubic meter - were due to wildfire air pollution.
Wildfire smoke is linked with adverse birth outcomes, the researchers noted.
The data pertain only to the U.S., so the researchers cannot directly speak to the experience in Europe, where record-breaking heat waves are contributing to some of the most damaging wildfires in the continent’s history.
However, the contribution of wildfire smoke and other air pollutants to adverse birth outcomes has been documented in both the U.S. and Europe, said senior study author Michel Boudreaux from the University of Maryland.
“While individuals can do some things to reduce their exposure (air filtration, masking, etc), governments and communities need to play an active role by ensuring that people have access to clean air shelters, that homes, workplaces, and schools have air filtration, and ensuring that people that are exposed have access to high-quality medical care.”
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