孕婦胎盤現有毒煙塵顆粒! 空氣污染或波及胎兒

Tiny particles of soot breathed in by pregnant women have been found in the womb, where they can harm the growing baby, research shows.

研究表明，孕婦吸入的有毒煙塵顆粒在她們的子宮裏被發現，而這很有可能會傷害正在發育的胎兒。

Air pollution has long been linked to a lower birth weight, higher infant mortality and childhood respiratory problems such as asthma.

長期以來，空氣污染都被認爲與較低的新生兒體重、較高的嬰兒死亡率以及兒童呼吸系統疾病有關。

Now a study, carried out after women gave birth, has found soot particles in the placenta.

現在，一項在婦女分娩後進行的研究發現，胎盤裏有污染顆粒。

This raises the possibility that the poisonous black particles could reach the foetus, the authors said.

研究的作者稱，這增加了有毒黑色粒子傷害胎兒的可能性。

The research, by a team from Queen Mary University of London, was presented to the European Respiratory Society International Congress in Paris.

這項研究是由英國倫敦大學瑪麗皇后學院的一個團隊主導的，並在於巴黎舉行的歐洲呼吸學會國際大會上對外公佈。

Dr Lisa Miyashita, a post-doctoral researcher, said: 'We've known for a while that air pollution affects foetal development and can continue to affect babies after birth and throughout their lives. We were interested to see if these effects could be due to pollution particles moving from the mother's lungs to the placenta. Until now, there has been very little evidence that inhaled particles get into the blood from the lung.'

博士後研究員麗莎·宮崎表示：“我們早就知道空氣污染會影響胎兒的發育，並且在嬰兒出生後繼續影響其一生。我們感興趣的是這些是否可能是污染顆粒從母親的肺部轉移到胎盤所導致的。到目前爲止，幾乎沒有證據表明吸入顆粒物是從肺部進入血液的。”

Scientists worked with five pregnant women who lived in London and were due to have caesarean deliveries at the Royal London Hospital. All were non-smokers with an uncomplicated pregnancy and each one gave birth to a healthy baby.

科學家們對5名住在倫敦的孕婦進行了跟蹤調查，這5人都不吸菸，孕期均很順利，也都在醫院接受剖腹產手術生下了健康的嬰兒。

Experts who studied the placentas after delivery were interested in cells called placental macrophages -- part of the body's immune system which engulf harmful particles such as bacteria and pollution to protect the foetus.

專家們對5名孕婦分娩後留下的胎盤進行了研究，主要是研究胎盤裏的巨噬細胞--該細胞是身體免疫系統的一部分，可以吞噬有害顆粒，比如細菌和污染物，從而保護胎兒。

The team studied a total of 3,500 placental macrophage cells and examined them under a high-powered microscope. They found 60 cells that between them contained 72 small black areas.

該團隊藉助高倍顯微鏡，對3500個巨噬細胞進行了研究。他們發現，其中60個巨噬細胞裏含有72個小型的黑色區域。

Researchers believe these were carbon particles. On average, each placenta contained around five square micrometres of this substance.

研究人員認爲，這些就是碳顆粒。平均來說，每個胎盤中，大約有5平方微米的區域裏有這種物質。

The scientists then studied the placental macrophages from two placentas in greater detail using an electron microscope, and again found material that they believe was made up of tiny carbon particles.

隨後，科學家們用電子顯微鏡對來自兩個胎盤的巨噬細胞進行了更詳細的研究，再次發現了他們認爲是由微小碳顆粒組成的物質。

Researcher Dr Norrice Liu said: 'Our results provide the first evidence that inhaled pollution particles can move from the lungs into the circulation and then to the placenta. We do not know whether the particles we found could also move across into the foetus, but our evidence suggests that this is indeed possible.'

研究人員諾里斯·劉稱：“我們的研究結果首次證明，（孕婦）吸入的污染顆粒可以從肺部進入血液循環，然後抵達胎盤。我們不知道這些顆粒物質是否也會進入胎兒體內，不過證據表明這確有可能。”