Ambient black carbon particles reach the fetal side of human placenta

Particle transfer across the placenta has been suggested but to date, no direct evidence in real-life, human context exists. Here we report the presence of black carbon (BC) particles as part of combustion-derived particulate matter in human placentae using white-light generation under femtosecond p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature communications Vol. 10; no. 1; pp. 3866 - 7
Main Authors: Bové, Hannelore, Bongaerts, Eva, Slenders, Eli, Bijnens, Esmée M., Saenen, Nelly D., Gyselaers, Wilfried, Van Eyken, Peter, Plusquin, Michelle, Roeffaers, Maarten B. J., Ameloot, Marcel, Nawrot, Tim S.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 17.09.2019
Nature Publishing Group
Nature Portfolio
Subjects:
14/19
14/28
14/69
631/443/494
639/925/928/833
692/700/478
Air Pollutants - metabolism
Air Pollutants - toxicity
Air pollution
Belgium
Biopsy
Birth
Black carbon
Carbon
Cohort Studies
Ecotoxicology
Exposure
Female
Fetuses
Humanities and Social Sciences
Humans
Maternal Exposure - adverse effects
Maternal-Fetal Exchange
Microscopy, Electron, Transmission
multidisciplinary
Particle deposition
Particulate matter
Particulates
Permeability
Placenta
Placenta - metabolism
Placenta - pathology
Placenta - ultrastructure
Pollution effects
Pregnancy
Residence Characteristics - statistics & numerical data
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Soot - analysis
Soot - metabolism
Soot - toxicity
White light
Belgium
ISSN:2041-1723, 2041-1723
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Particle transfer across the placenta has been suggested but to date, no direct evidence in real-life, human context exists. Here we report the presence of black carbon (BC) particles as part of combustion-derived particulate matter in human placentae using white-light generation under femtosecond pulsed illumination. BC is identified in all screened placentae, with an average (SD) particle count of 0.95 × 10 4 (0.66 × 10 4 ) and 2.09 × 10 4 (0.9 × 10 4 ) particles per mm 3 for low and high exposed mothers, respectively. Furthermore, the placental BC load is positively associated with mothers’ residential BC exposure during pregnancy (0.63–2.42 µg per m 3 ). Our finding that BC particles accumulate on the fetal side of the placenta suggests that ambient particulates could be transported towards the fetus and represents a potential mechanism explaining the detrimental health effects of pollution from early life onwards. Exposure to air pollution during pregnancy has been associated with impaired birth outcomes. Here, Bové et al. report evidence of black carbon particle deposition on the fetal side of human placentae, including at early stages of pregnancy, suggesting air pollution could affect birth outcome through direct effects on the fetus.
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ISSN:2041-1723
2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/s41467-019-11654-3