A new study suggests that exposure to air pollution could reduce the chances of a live birth through IVF treatment by around 40%.
IVF is an assisted reproductive technique in which eggs are fertilized outside the body using drugs and surgery, and the fertilized eggs are then transferred to the woman’s uterus.
In the study, researchers analyzed the impact of air pollution on nearly 3,600 frozen embryo transfers carried out over an eight-year period in Perth, Australia. They focused on exposure to fine particulate matter in the two weeks prior to egg retrieval for IVF and found that it reduced the odds of a live birth by 38%.
“This is the first study to use frozen embryo transfer cycles to separately analyze the effects of pollutant exposure during egg development and embryo transfer, as well as during early pregnancy,” said lead study author Sebastian Lezarsich.
“This allowed us to assess whether the contamination was affecting the eggs themselves or the early stages of pregnancy.”
The researchers noted that the adverse effects of air pollution were observed despite overall “excellent” air quality during the study period.
“Even in areas with very good air quality, where there are very few days when air pollution exceeds internationally accepted limits, there is a strong negative correlation between the amount of air pollution and live birth rates in frozen embryo transfer cycles,” Dr. Leathersich said.
Air pollution is estimated to cause around 4 million premature deaths worldwide each year.
It can cause a variety of health problems, including heart and lung disease.
The latest research was published in the journal Human reproduction, It highlights the risks that air pollution poses to reproductive health.
“Climate change and pollution remain the biggest threats to human health, and human reproduction is not immune from these threats,” Dr Rezasich added.
“Minimizing exposure to contaminants must be a key public health priority.”
