King's College London finds early pregnancy pollution slows infant speech
A new study from King's College London has found that breathing in air pollution during early pregnancy can slow down babies' speech development.
Researchers tracked 498 infants born at St. Thomas's Hospital in London, focusing on how exposure to things like nitrogen dioxide and tiny particles affected premature babies.
First trimester exposure lowers 18-month language
The study showed that babies exposed to more pollution scored lower on language tests by 18 months, especially if they had higher exposure in the first trimester.
It also highlighted how working-class and marginalized communities living near pollution sources are most at risk.
As Agnes Agyepong from Global Child and Maternal Health put it, these findings point to bigger issues of inequality, and a real need for policy changes to protect families everywhere.