Exposure To Air Pollution During Infancy Can Impact Gut Health And Start A Chain Reaction Of Long-Term Health Effects, New Study Finds
It has long been known that exposure to air pollution can increase the long-term risk of everything from respiratory infections and heart disease to stroke and lung cancer in adults.
However, a new study conducted by the University of Colorado Boulder has uncovered a link between infant air pollution exposure and adverse impacts on gut bacteria.
More specifically, when children under the age of six months are exposed to air pollution, they are at an increased risk for allergies, diabetes, obesity, and perhaps even altered brain development.
This study is the first of its kind to find a relationship between inhaled pollutants– such as industrial, vehicular, and those from wildfires– with alterations in infant gut health during this crucial developmental window.
“This study adds to the growing body of literature showing that air pollution exposure, even during infancy, may alter the gut microbiome, with important implications for growth and development,” underscored Tanya Alderete, the study’s senior author.
For context, infants have very little resident gut bacteria following birth. Instead, it is their exposure to milk, solid food, and antibiotics that impact what microorganisms take hold in the infant’s gut over their first two to three years of life.
Then, these microorganisms and the byproducts they produce after breaking down food or chemicals in the stomach ultimately impact a plethora of bodily systems that affect appetite, immunity, insulin sensitivity, and cognition.
“The microbiome plays a role in nearly every physiological process in the body, and the environment that develops in those first few years of life sticks with you,” explained Maximilian Bailey, the study’s first author.
So, the researchers analyzed the fecal samples of over one hundred healthy Latino infants from the Southern California Mother’s Milk Study via genetic sequencing.
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Then, using the infant’s home addresses from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Quality System, the researchers estimated each infant’s exposure to air pollution. And overall, the team found that greater air pollution was associated with more inflammation of gut microorganisms– which can lead to numerous adverse long-term health outcomes.
For example, infants with high exposure to PM2.5, which are fine inhalable particles from construction sites, factories, wildfires, and more, had sixty percent less Phascolarctobacterium– which is known to support gastrointestinal health, lower inflammation, and contribute to neurodevelopment.
Moreover, low-income communities are at an even greater risk for these adverse health outcomes since they are often located closer to highly trafficked highways and factories.
“Our findings highlight the importance of addressing the impact of pollution on disadvantaged communities and point to additional steps all families can take to protect their health,” Alderete said.
In turn, the researchers have advised both current and expectant parents to avoid walking outside in regions that are highly trafficked, invest in low-cost air filtration systems, and open the windows when cooking at home.
Finally, if you are able to continue nursing your infant, the team suggests doing so for as long as possible. This is because a mother’s milk can be instrumental in shaping a healthy gut microbiome and offsetting some adverse environmental effects.
To read the study’s complete findings, which have since been published in Gut Microbes, you can visit the link here.
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