You can’t breathe serious
While being pregnant is a beautiful and a wonderful life -giving 9 months, it is also challenging, stressful, and can have many complications along the way. It is important to be aware of all the possible road bumps along the way. From morning sickness to weird food cravings, there are a multitude of tips and tricks on how to have a successful and rewarding pregnancy. These suggestions include things for the health of the baby, health of the mother, and all around good practices. One can find these suggestions in magazines, on the internet, from friends, or asking their doctor during their consistent checkups. Things to avoid include unpasteurized milk or cheeses, as well as raw or undercooked meats, excessive amounts of caffeine, alcohol, and intense physical activity. Other things suggested are getting enough sleep and adequate hydration.[1]
But we all know these things, right? And this is all we actually need to know for sure? However, what many women do not know, is that they could be putting their baby’s body at risk simply by breathing in air. Yes, that’s right. Simply breathing is now a no go. Polluted air from major roadways can drastically affect a child’s IQ, cognitive abilities, and also influence their likelihood of developing chronic diseases, such as asthma or even death.[2] The main problem is that people are uneducated about these detrimental effects and how living close to a major roadway and consistently breathing the air really does impact the health of the mother and baby. The particles that are in the polluted air do not sit well within humans. Countless studies have been done to show these effects, yet there is still no change. It can be observed that breathing in polluted air is dangerous for any human, so it is important to see how much more detrimental it is for pregnant women.[3]
There is no general consensus that all physicians should express this information to future mothers. Mothers, unknowingly, are hurting their health and the health of their baby for what is typically cheaper housing. Different diseases and malfunctions can occur with tremendous amounts of exposure to car exhaust.[4] Women who are pregnant or considering becoming pregnant should be aware of these effects when being told things to avoid, like coffee or alcohol, and should deeply consider the quality of air they are inhaling, as it does impact the development of the fetus.
While it might seem crazy to believe, the location of one’s house can impact the health of the baby. Typically, cheaper housing lies around major roadways and the sound of moving vehicles is what floods the room. Most of the time, people who live in these places are on subsidized housing or do not have the financial resources to live in other areas or they do not even know that this could be problematic. There is research about subsidized housing that found a higher Hispanic population living in this area and essentially tried to analyze the impacts on these low-income housing facilities and examine land-use and health-related built environment factors.[5] It can be concluded that people with a lower income live in areas with lower cost of house, such as these subsidized housing situations, thus putting their health and their baby’s health at risk for high traffic exposure without realizing this. It must also be noted that low income housing is typically near major roadways, as seen in many urban areas.[6] People with a lower income live in areas with lower cost of house, such as these subsidized housing situations, thus putting their health and their baby’s health at risk for high traffic exposure without realizing this. These types of housing situations can also be seen as a way that concentrates poverty into certain neighborhoods because of the low-income housing options while increasing residential segregation.
These types of housing situations can also be seen as a way that concentrates poverty into certain neighborhoods because of the low-income housing options while increasing residential segregation. It then, in turn. “perpetuates inequities in access to employment, education, and other public services.”[7] These inequalities also include clean air to breathe, as most of these neighborhoods are near major roadways or are in areas with chemical and industrial plants close by. This is not fair or right. People who are not wealthy should not be at a higher risk for problems during pregnancy or after the baby is born. There is already a big enough disparity between the wealthy and the poor with access to education, employment, and public services- clean air should not be something that gets added to this list. Clean, breathe-able air should always be a basic human right, regardless of your social class.
Now, the question is where do we go with this information? There are plenty of ways to combat this issue of fumes from car exhaust slowly destroying our insides, but the most obvious one would to change the fuel put into the car thus impacting what comes out of it. While “electric vehicles emit no NO2 but do produce small particle pollution from the wear on brake discs and tires and by throwing up dust from roads.”[8] That being said, electric cars will not eliminate all pollution, but they do drastically decrease the effects of breathing in toxic air. Plus, electric cars are more financially friendly as you save money at the pump. People usually say that electric cars are inconvenient because they can only drive a certain number of miles before being recharged, but it is practically the same as filling up at the gas station. Another concern is the electric cost increasing at one’s house in order to charge their car at night. While this could possibly be true, the reality is that it would be about the same as filling up one’s car with gas even with the initial cost of the car being more. Suggesting that every single person needs to buy an electric car is not very practical, but even some switching between people or carpooling to work or taking other measures to reduce the amount of toxins going into the air from a car’s tail pipe are simple and effective ways to make a change happen.
Other solutions include passing laws in congress about how close houses can be built to roadways or regulating the types of particles that are leaving the tail pipe. While both seem overly ambitious, there is scientific backing for how beneficial both could be. Studies have provided substantial evidence stating that preterm birth and low birth weight has correlated with living near roadways.[9] These conditions are both preventable with the correct living conditions and if there were laws ensuring this would happen, new mothers would have one less thing to worry about. However, actually making headway in congress and in law making is more than just presenting scientific information. It takes years of consistent pressure and persistence in getting people to support your cause. There are a lot of people who work under the table trying to make deals and block certain things coming into law for a multitude of reasons, so, knowing that, making other changes besides those in congress may be the most cost-effective, timely, and productive with this particular issue.
Another way, that could be more cost effective, would be to fully educate people. Requiring doctors to include this information when speaking with patients and detailing out the implications of living near major roadways could help at least let people know what they’re doing. The worst part is many people are just unaware because they think that there isn’t enough evidence or solely chose their housing on price. Just like there are pamphlets in doctor’s offices about different medications, diseases, or symptoms, there should be easily accessible information packets to detail out just how dangerous living near major roadways is for pregnant women.
Ultimately, we just need better built cities. We need public transportation to eliminate busy, congested roadways that are a breeding ground for deadly chemicals. We need better fuel for cars. We need clean air to breathe. Information needs to be easily accessible and there needs to be no disparity between receiving information, regardless of one’s income. We need to push our legislators to crack down on what comes out of a tail pipe and we need to demand that all women hear how devastating the effects of living near a major roadway when pregnant. Women need to know that there is an increase in likelihood of being small for gestational age (SGA) or asthma or slowing of cognitive functions by breathing in the toxic particles by a highway.[10] Some ways to prevent the number of exposures to this toxic air include making slow, but meaningful changes with using electric cars or carpooling, both of which have helped reduce exposures already. Another school of thought is to take it directly to lawmakers to restrict what can be emitted from the tail pipe of a car. This method is the most unrealistic because of how tough it is to regulate these types of things and getting a new law into motion is time consuming and can require lots of money. Lastly, the most effective cost wise and practically is to simply educate people. Educating people on just how dangerous and serious this issue is and hoping that from this education, they will make the necessary changes or demand that lawmakers help them in their efforts. There has been serious progress in how education shapes a better tomorrow. While it is impossible to say if people will actually make the necessary changes and move from living near major roadways, they will at least know what types of health issues to be on the lookout for. It is sad that we live in a world where sometimes money determines health, but unfortunately that is where we are in 2018.Women deserve to know just how much the air that they breathe will change the course of their baby’s life and it starts today. It may take time, resources, and there may not see drastic progress right away, but there will be little victories along the way. As long as women are aware and there is not ambiguity between information, that is all one can ask for. The research and study results are available for the public, the public just never realized this was a question they needed to ask.
[1] (2016, October 11). Retrieved May 11, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiQ5pWbqOSo
[2] Miranda, M. L., Edwards, S. E., Chang, H. H., & Auten, R. L. (2013). Proximity to roadways and pregnancy outcomes. Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology, 23(1), 32–8. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/jes.2012.78
[3] ADEQ. (2015, June 15). Retrieved May 11, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnJ780kE_1Y
[4] Brauer, M., Lencar, C., Tamburic, L., Koehoorn, M., Demers, P., & Karr, C. (2008). A Cohort Study of Traffic-Related Air Pollution Impacts on Birth Outcomes. Environmental Health Perspectives,116(5), 680–686. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.lib.utexas.edu/stable/25067939
[5] Houston, D., PhD., Basolo, V., PhD., & Yang, D., M.S.C.R.P. (2013). Walkability, transit access, and traffic exposure for low-income residents with subsidized housing. American Journal of Public Health, 103(4), 673–678. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.lib.utexas.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.lib.utexas.edu/docview/1340940736?accountid=7118
[6] Freedman, M. and McGavock, T. (2015), Low-Income Housing Development, Poverty Concentration, and Neighborhood Inequality. J. Pol. Anal. Manage., 34: 805–834. doi:10.1002/pam.21856
[7] Freedman, M. and McGavock, T. (2015), Low-Income Housing Development, Poverty Concentration, and Neighborhood Inequality. J. Pol. Anal. Manage., 34: 805–834. doi:10.1002/pam.21856
[8] Carrinton, Damian (2017). Electric cars are not the answer to air pollution, says top UK advisor. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/04/fewer-cars-not-electric-cars-beat-air-pollution-says-top-uk-adviser-prof-frank-kelly
[9] Yorifuji, T., Naruse, H., Kashima, S., Takao, S., Murakoshi, T., Doi, H., & Kawachi, I. (2013). Residential proximity to major roads and adverse birth outcomes: A hospital-based study. Environmental Health, 12http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.lib.utexas.edu/10.1186/1476-069X-12-34
[10] Sathyanarayana, S., Zhou, C., Rudra, C. B., Gould, T., Larson, T., Koenig, J., & Karr, C. J. (2013). Prenatal ambient air pollution exposure and small for gestational age birth in the puget sound air basin. Air Quality, Atmosphere, & Health, 6(2), 455–463. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11869-012-0182-7
