A study has linked prenatal exposure to environmental hazards like air pollution, phthalates, and pesticides with liver damage in both mothers and babies. However, some common supplements can provide protection.
Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City examined how prenatal exposure to metabolism-disrupting chemical mixtures impacts liver health in mother-child pairs within a test population in Mexico.
While they found evidence that such exposure increased the risk for liver injury and fat accumulation in the liver in mothers and especially their children, they also discovered that mothers-to-be taking a 600-milligram daily folic acid supplement could protect themselves and their newborns.
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Majorly 😥 The team also found that taking higher concentrations of cobalt — a key component of vitamin B12 — during pregnancy could offer further protection.
"Our study paves the way for dietary lifestyle interventions evaluating this hypothesis in a non-observational setting," first author Sandra India Aldana said in a press release.
According to Mount Sinai, which cited information from the World Health Organization, harmful environmental exposures during pregnancy and early infancy can pose a number of health risks to newborns, including low birth weight, preterm birth, developmental delays, respiratory issues, and increased susceptibility to metabolic and other chronic diseases later in life.
For instance, one study found that exposure to airborne toxic particles during pregnancy increases the risk of low birth weight. Another paper found air pollution can affect fertility.
While diet can make a difference, the authors also underscored the importance of reducing exposure to environmental hazards in the first place. That's why initiatives to reduce carbon pollution, such as Wales' ban on most new roadway projects and New York's law requiring rideshare vehicles to be EVs by 2030, are so crucial — they can safeguard clean air while also helping to slow the overheating of our planet.
"We must not forget that reduction of potential deleterious environmental etiological factors or restriction of widespread use of contaminants remains key to ultimately reducing the risk of liver injury onset," Aldana said.
Lead author Dania Valvi added, "This study adds to the growing evidence that environmental chemical exposures in combination with dietary and other environmental and genetic risk factors have contributed to the epidemic of steatotic liver disease we see globally."
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