Pollution and the risk of premature birth – the current state of knowledge

Abstract

The potentially dangerous substances present in the geographical area where the pregnant woman works must be well known to healthcare professionals, starting with the family doctor, who is in the front line of prevention, and continuing with all the other specialists. Environmental factors, acting individually or cumulatively, have important effects on human reproduction. With all the recognized progress of modern obstetrics, with the wide use of new technologies in diagnosis, but also with the improvement of the therapeutic arsenal, the percentage of premature newborns has remained constant during the last decades. Studies over the past two decades have shown that preconceptional and prenatal exposure to toxic, environmental agents has a profound and lasting effect on reproductive health. We analyzed the literature to find out the current state of knowledge in the field of the influence of pollution on the risk of premature birth. The study of literature (environmental hygiene, ecology, toxicology, occupational medicine, obstetrics-gynecology, etc.) shows clear causal relationships between certain environmental factors and the risk of premature birth, while for several substances the results are inconclusive.