In a recent study, it has been shown that a portable air cleaner at your home can bring down the level of air pollution and also decreases its adverse affects on the mind and body of children and pregnant women.
A team of researchers from the Simon Fraser University who teamed up with scientists from Mongolia and the US are to study the after affects of using air filters ta home to reduce its effects. This would minimize the impact of air pollution among kids and pregnant ladies.
After the researchers controlled the air pollution in such a way, hey found that it greatly helps to reduce the air pollution and obviously helps its adverse effect in children.
It all started in 2014 when researchers recruited as many as 540 pregnant ladies in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia to participate in their project on air pollution. To be precise, it was called Ulaanbaatar Gestation and Air Pollution Research (UGAAR) study.
The reason why researchers wanted to conduct such an experiment is because of the fact that Ulaanbaatar has worst air quality in the world and is currently going above the permissible guidelines as set by the World Health Organization (WHO).
All the women were less than 18 weeks pregnant and were also non smokers. They had not previously used air filtering devices in their homes
Air Pollution During Pregnancy
The research was conducted on these women with one or two HEPA filter air cleaners. They asked to constantly run air cleaners for the entire duration of their pregnancies. The air cleaners were finally removed until their child were born.
After the test was conducted, researchers then measured the full-scale intelligence quotient (FSIQ) of children having 4 years of age.
The results were quite encouraging. They found that children born to mothers who never stopped the use of air cleaners had higher FSIQ as compared to another group of women that didn’t use air cleaners.
This is what they have to say, “Air pollution is everywhere, and it is preventing children from reaching their full potential,” adds Allen. “Air cleaners may provide some protection, but ultimately the only way to protect all children is to reduce emissions.” they said.
Source: Medindia.net
