Women exposed to smoke from landscape fires during pregnancy are more likely to give birth to babies with low or very low birth weights, according to findings published in eLife.
Women exposed to smoke from landscape fires during pregnancy are more likely to give birth to babies with low or very low birth weights, according to findings published in eLife.
The study is the first to report a link between low birth weight and exposure to fire smoke in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), where 90% of low birth weight infants are born and landscape fires are prevalent.
Landscape fires, such as wildfires, tropical deforestation fires and agricultural biomass burning, play an important role in maintaining terrestrial ecosystems. Yet, landscape fire smoke is triggering a costly and growing global public health problem, causing recurrent episodes of pollution mostly affecting LMICs.
Previous studies have shown that exposure to fire smoke during pregnancy is linked to low birth weight, which itself is a public health problem in LMICs. Reducing the risk of low birth weight is one of the World Health Organization’s global targets for 2025.
Read more at eLife
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