Women undergoing IVF treatment could boost their chances of having a baby by reducing their exposure to air pollution, a study suggests.
Researchers found that the chance of having a live birth through IVF could be cut by almost 40 per cent when the would-be mother was exposed to high levels of pollutant particles in the weeks and months before her eggs were collected.
Those who were exposed to the highest levels of PM10 pollution, made up of particles measuring 10 microns or less in diameter, in the two weeks before egg retrieval were 38 per cent less likely to have a baby through IVF compared with those with the lowest pollution exposure. The highest level of pollution was set at between 18.63 and 35.42 micrograms of particles per cubic metre, and the lowest was between 7.08 and 12.92 micrograms.
The researchers from Australia also looked at exposure to even smaller particles known as PM2.5, measuring 2.5 microns or less in diameter, which are deemed more dangerous as they can penetrate further within the body due to their tiny size. They found that women with the highest exposure in the three months before egg collection also had decreased odds of a successful pregnancy and birth via IVF.
The Times has been calling for stricter regulations on air pollution as part of the Clean Air for All campaign.
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The study, whose abstract was published in the Human Reproduction journal, was conducted over eight years in Perth, Western Australia, analysing 3,659 frozen embryo transfers from 1,836 patients. The median age of the women was 34.5 at the time of egg retrieval and 36.1 at the age of transfer. It also examined pollution levels over the 24 hours, two weeks, four weeks and three months before egg collection.
The results, presented to the 40th annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Amsterdam, found that the air quality in Perth at the time was generally “excellent” and only exceeded safety guidelines on a few days, but even with levels considered “safe” by the World Health Organisation, pollution could still have a negative impact on the success of IVF treatment.
Dr Sebastian Leathersich, who works at the King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women in Subiaco, Perth, and was lead author of the study, said, “This is the first study that has used frozen embryo transfer cycles to separately analyse the effects of pollutant exposure during the development of eggs and around the time of embryo transfer and early pregnancy. We could therefore evaluate whether pollution was having an effect on the eggs themselves, or on the early stages of pregnancy.”
He said the study showed that pollution “negatively affects the quality of the eggs”. It noted that it was previously known that pollution could affect reproductive health but that the “mechanisms remain unclear”.
Leathersich said: “Even in a part of the world with exceptional air quality … there is a strong negative correlation between the amount of air pollution and the live birth rate in frozen embryo transfer cycles. Minimising pollutant exposure must be a public health priority.”
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The study noted that pollutant particles may damage or alter the DNA in eggs and place them under “oxidative stress”.
A new drug undergoing trials could boost the success rate of IVF by improving the chances of an embryo implanting in the womb, according to results presented at the same conference in Amsterdam.
During a phase two trial, the penultimate phase for new drugs, researchers found that the drug boosted the pregnancy rate from 52.4 to 75.9 per cent and the proportion of live births from 35.7 to 42.6 per cent in a study of 96 women. Professor Dr Karen Sermon, chairwoman of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, said it was good news for patients and she hoped to see it confirmed in larger studies.
