Texas A&M University’s research shows that if the atmosphere harbours “harmful particulate matter” it can translate into “birth defects and even fatalities during pregnancy”. During the study, animal model was used whereby the said conclusion was drawn.
The “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences” features the same study in its recent issue, while the “researchers from Texas A&M's Colleges of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Geosciences, the Texas A&M Health Science Center, and colleagues from the University of California-San Diego” collaborated to carry out the experiment with the use of “female rats”.
The study examined the hazardous effects on their health by exposing them to “fine particulate matter” that consisted of “commonly found” ammonium sulphate. As per the research team, the “fine particulate matter” increase in percent during winter, while in “China and India” they were observed to be “especially high at several hundred micrograms per cubic meter”.
Renyi Zhang was the lead author of the study, who said that there is a typical belie among people that “ammonium sulfate is not very toxic”. However, their research result proved otherwise as they found it to have “large impacts on female pregnant rats”.
Rats that were exposed ammonium sulphate polluted air during the study exhibited high rates of stillbirths along with “shorter pregnancies and lower birth weight of their babies”. The World Health Organisation noted that nine out of ten people across the globe breathe in “high level of pollutants” with air, while one out of each nine deaths across the world is caused by air pollution which thus amounts to a total of more than seven million “premature deaths” on an annual basis.
The health hazards caused by air pollution across the globe need our urgent attention, while below are enlisted some of the ways through which the world can attempt to “curb air pollution”, as mentioned by news18.com:
The “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences” features the same study in its recent issue, while the “researchers from Texas A&M's Colleges of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Geosciences, the Texas A&M Health Science Center, and colleagues from the University of California-San Diego” collaborated to carry out the experiment with the use of “female rats”.
The study examined the hazardous effects on their health by exposing them to “fine particulate matter” that consisted of “commonly found” ammonium sulphate. As per the research team, the “fine particulate matter” increase in percent during winter, while in “China and India” they were observed to be “especially high at several hundred micrograms per cubic meter”.
Renyi Zhang was the lead author of the study, who said that there is a typical belie among people that “ammonium sulfate is not very toxic”. However, their research result proved otherwise as they found it to have “large impacts on female pregnant rats”.
Rats that were exposed ammonium sulphate polluted air during the study exhibited high rates of stillbirths along with “shorter pregnancies and lower birth weight of their babies”. The World Health Organisation noted that nine out of ten people across the globe breathe in “high level of pollutants” with air, while one out of each nine deaths across the world is caused by air pollution which thus amounts to a total of more than seven million “premature deaths” on an annual basis.
The health hazards caused by air pollution across the globe need our urgent attention, while below are enlisted some of the ways through which the world can attempt to “curb air pollution”, as mentioned by news18.com:
- Make use of public transport to reduce air pollution. The number of cars outside, more will be the pollution. Furthermore, when purchasing a vehicle, consider fuel efficient and alternative fuel vehicles.
- Planting trees may help us getting all the fresh air we need.
- Try practising an environmentally friendly and ecologically responsible lifestyle.
- Use solar energy as it helps save non-renewable sources of energy.
- Do not keep your lights switched on. Don’t waste energy and money.
- Avoid plastic bags because they are hard to decompose.
- Quit smoking since it is not only very hazardous to the smoker’s health but also to the people around them.
- Educate people around you to lead a healthier, more eco-friendly lifestyle.
References:
news18.com
