Exposure to air pollution in womb might lead to a type of DNA damage, study states
| Updated: Jan 25, 2018, 11:43 IST
It's not uncommon for scientists to come up the bad effects air pollution can have on our bodies. However, a study stated that air pollution can affect the womb too and lead to various damaging effects. Babies' exposure to high levels of air pollution in the womb may lead to a type of DNA damage, typically associated with ageing, called telomere shortening, warned the study published in the journal, Environment International.
Telomeres are the caps at the end of each strand of DNA that protect our chromosomes. Telomere shortening is the main cause of the age-related breakdown of our cells and has been linked with cancer and heart disease, cognitive decline, ageing, as well as premature death. And babies who are exposed to air pollution in the utero showed higher levels of PAH-DNA cord adducts which is a biomarker for exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, a toxic component of air pollution from coal plants. Elevated levels of these adducts in cord blood were associated with shorter telomeres as well as with lower levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein involved in neuronal grown, as stated by the study wherein the team analysed telomere length in the umbilical cord blood of 255 newborns, born both before and after the closure of a coal-burning power plant in China in 2004.
"An individual's telomere length at birth is known to influence their risk for disease decades later during adulthood," said Deliang Tang, a professor at the Columbia University in the USA. In May 2004, high levels of air pollution in Tongliang prompted the government to shut down the local coal-burning power plant to improve community health.
Telomeres are the caps at the end of each strand of DNA that protect our chromosomes. Telomere shortening is the main cause of the age-related breakdown of our cells and has been linked with cancer and heart disease, cognitive decline, ageing, as well as premature death. And babies who are exposed to air pollution in the utero showed higher levels of PAH-DNA cord adducts which is a biomarker for exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, a toxic component of air pollution from coal plants. Elevated levels of these adducts in cord blood were associated with shorter telomeres as well as with lower levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein involved in neuronal grown, as stated by the study wherein the team analysed telomere length in the umbilical cord blood of 255 newborns, born both before and after the closure of a coal-burning power plant in China in 2004.
"An individual's telomere length at birth is known to influence their risk for disease decades later during adulthood," said Deliang Tang, a professor at the Columbia University in the USA. In May 2004, high levels of air pollution in Tongliang prompted the government to shut down the local coal-burning power plant to improve community health.