Little is currently known about the possible health effects of nanoparticles on pregnancy. A current study by Swiss researchers now shows that the microscopic particles pose a risk to babies in the womb.
Accordingly, certain nanoparticles may hinder blood vessel formation. They do this by disrupting the production of various messenger substances in the placenta, as the Federal Materials Testing and Research Institute (Empa) announced on Thursday.
A team led by Tania Bürki recently investigated how the placental barrier deals with nanoparticles that are only a few millionths of a millimeter in size. Previous studies have shown that the placenta allows some of the small particles to pass through.
Mysterious action at a distance
However, the so-called placental barrier can keep many of them away from the unborn baby. However, damage to the fetal tissue was still partially visible, Empa said. Even if no particles were detected in the fetus.
They have now shown how this indirect damage occurs in a study in the journal ‘Advanced Science’. To do this, they used fully functional human placentas delivered after a planned cesarean section. They added nanoparticles such as titanium dioxide or diesel soot to the tissue of these placentas.
Interfere with the production of messenger substances
The experiments showed that nanoparticles in the placental tissue disrupt the production of messenger substances. And it is these messenger substances that can cause important changes in embryonic development, such as the formation of damaged blood vessels.
The development of the nervous system, as shown by the first results, does not seem to be affected. Further analyzes will now reveal which other disruptions nanoparticles can indirectly cause.
Source: Krone
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