A risk factor at the beginning of pregnancy that delays the development of speech and motor skills in infants. Here is what scientists revealed

The study, conducted by researchers from King’s College London, included 498 infants born at St. Thomas’ Hospital in central London between 2015 and 2020, including 125 premature babies.

The results showed that infants who were exposed to high pollution in the first three months of pregnancy scored 5 to 7 points lower on language tests compared to others.

The effect was worse for premature babies, as it was found that in addition to the delayed development of their ability to speak, their motor skills were also weak. Preterm infants who were exposed to the highest levels of pollution throughout pregnancy scored an average of 11 points lower on motor skills than those who were exposed to low levels.

The researchers used the postcodes of the mothers’ homes to estimate the amounts of pollution they were exposed to during each trimester of pregnancy. Pollutants measured included nitrogen dioxide and fine particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5). When the infants were 18 months old, they underwent a standard clinical test to measure cognitive, language and motor skills.

Tyrone Scott, head of campaigns at War On Want, described these results as a “wake-up call”, stressing that air pollution is not just an environmental issue but “an issue of justice and equality from the beginning of life itself.”

The researchers warn that the implications of these findings are global, especially since almost the entire world population breathes air containing pollutants that exceed the guidelines of the World Health Organization, which describes air pollution as “the largest single environmental health risk in the world.”

Data suggest that residents of low- and middle-income countries in the Global South experience the highest levels of exposure, as many polluting industries have been relocated from the Global North.