Fetus 'suffers from mother's bad air'

Newborn babies who are exposed to air pollution in the womb have to breathe faster to get more oxygen into their lungs, according to research confirming environmental fumes can damage a child's lungs before birth.

A study of 241 Swiss infants shows for the first time that the more pollution a pregnant woman breathes in, the more her baby will struggle for breath.

Australian child health experts say the findings support recent research on Brisbane mothers and help build a case for more environmentally-friendly town planning and better efforts to avoid pollutants in pregnancy.

"This is scary proof that we need to be paying a lot more attention to how we are designing our cities," said Professor Peter Sly, director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Research on Children's Environmental Health in Perth.

Respiratory specialists at the University of Bern measured the day-to-day air quality of a group of pregnant women and measured lung health of their babies at five weeks.

Babies of mothers who had the highest exposure to pollution breathed an average of 48 times a minute, compared with 42 for those less exposed.

They also had higher levels of exhaled nitric oxide, a marker of airway inflammation.

Those living within 150 metres of a major road were most affected, lead researcher Philipp (Philipp) Latzin told the European Respiratory Society congress in Berlin.

Previous studies have only shown lung damage from air pollution in school-aged children.

Dr Latzin said he was uncertain of the mechanisms but it was possible that oxidative stress and inflammation in the mother's lungs may stifle blood flow to the placenta, reducing nutrient supply.

If the popular theory that exposure to toxins in the womb has lasting effects proves true, "then these early influences on the respiratory system will lead to an increase in lung disease in adulthood and reduce life expectancy," Dr Latzin said.

Prof Sly said this was further evidence for a need to strengthen pollution reduction measures and improve town planning.

"With too many road developments in Australia the only concern is moving traffic and that has to change," Prof Sly said.

"Air pollution has a serious impact on people living near major roads and these roads are everywhere.

"Climate change is going to increase humidity and make the situation worse so we need to get smart about it now."