Abstract
To our knowledge, little is known about the effects of environmental air pollution on the placenta function. Therefore, we investigated for the first time in Tunisia and the Middle East the association of maternal exposure to air pollution during pregnancy with the placenta weight and placental weight to fetal body weight ratio.
This study consisted of 812 Tunisian pregnant women who gave birth at hospitals in the Gafsa province. The region was divided into low and high-pollution areas according to the annual average air concentrations of sulfur dioxide (SO2), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter (PM10) which were measured by the monitoring stations of the Tunisian Chemical Group. Pregnancy outcomes (birth length and weight, head circumference, mother weight, placental and birth weights, etc.) were measured.
The study demonstrated a significant relationship between prenatal exposure to the total pollutants and both placental weight and fetal-placental ratio. The mean placental weight of the group with the higher ambient air exposure was larger than that of the group with lower ambient air pollution (568.7 +/- 112.3 g vs. 537.7 +/- 93.2 g, respectively, p<0.001). Additionally, the mean birth weight and placental weight ratio were larger in M'dhila than that of Gafsa. The results of this study could be an alarm for the health policy makers in Tunisia to take necessary actions and formulate policies to reduce exposure to the previously mentioned environmental contaminant in M'dhila.