Air pollution exposure can significantly decrease the chance of a live birth after IVF treatment, according to research that deepens concern about the health impacts of toxic air on fertility.Pollutant exposure has previously been linked to increased miscarriage rates and preterm births, and microscopic soot particles have been shown to travel through the bloodstream into the ovaries and the placenta. The latest work suggests that the impact of pollution begins before conception by disrupting the development of eggs.
“We observed that the odds of having a baby after a frozen embryo transfer were more than a third lower for women who were exposed to the highest levels of particulate matter air pollution prior to egg collection, compared with those exposed to the lowest levels,” said Dr. Sebastian Leathersich, a fertility specialist and gynecologist from Perth who is due to present the findings on Monday at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology annual meeting in Amsterdam.
Air pollution is a significant threat to human health and has caused millions of deaths worldwide. Microscopic soot particles can enter the bloodstream through the lungs and affect various organs in the body, leading to diseases like heart disease and cancer. The study analyzed fertility treatments in Perth over an eight-year period, including 3,659 frozen embryo transfers from 1,836 patients, and tracked whether outcomes were linked to the levels of fine particulate matter, known as PM10. The overall live birthrate was about 28% per transfer. However, the success rates varied with exposure to pollutants in the two weeks leading up to egg collection. The odds of a live birth decreased by 38% when comparing the highest quartile of exposure to the lowest quartile.
“These findings suggest that pollution negatively affects the quality of the eggs, not just the early stages of pregnancy, which is a distinction that has not been previously reported,” said Dr. Leathersich.
The team plans to study cells directly to understand why pollutants have a negative effect. Previous research has shown that the microscopic particles can damage DNA and cause inflammation in tissues. Prof. Jonathan Grigg from Queen Mary University of London noted that air pollution particles have been found in the placenta, indicating the widespread impact of pollution on reproductive health.
Despite excellent overall air quality during the study period, the negative effects of pollution on fertility were still observed. Prof. Geeta Nargund, a senior NHS consultant, emphasized the importance of further research to fully understand the impact of air pollution on fertility health and treatment outcomes, especially for individuals from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.
In the face of a global fertility crisis, understanding the link between environmental factors such as air pollution and fertility health could play a crucial role in addressing falling fertility rates. The findings of this study highlight the urgent need to address air pollution as a significant threat to human reproductive health, even at seemingly low levels of pollution.
