Breathing in the Future: Unraveling the Link Between Prenatal Outdoor Air Pollution and Neurodevelopment in Offspring: A Systematic Review
Authors:   Private Clinic of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Sana’a, Republic of Yemen, Malasevskaia Iana , Muñoz Nieto Sebastián ,   Rehabilitation Department, Hospital del Trabajador, Santiago, Chile, Rueda-Borrero Elsa ,   Internal Medicine Department, Complejo Hospitalario Dr. Arnulfo Arias Madrid, Panama City, Panama, Pereira Goulart Silvia ,   HIV Vaccine Trials Network, Seattle, Washington, United States, Bastos Lucchesi Maria Beatriz ,   Clinical Trials and Pharmacovigilance Center, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, Brazil, Fontana Antunes de Oliveira Maria Carolina ,   University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto Faculty of Medicine, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil and Lysogene Laboratorie, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, Lage Bodour Danielian Pedro Luiz ,   Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Shaaban Ahmed ,   Department of Neurosurgery, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, United States, Perez Pinzon Juliana ,   Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Harvard-Thorndike Arrhythmia Institute, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, United States, Silva Alves André ,   University of Geneva, Faculty of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland, Marín Araya Daniela ,   Department of Clinical Information Management, Clinica Davila, Santiago, Chile, Hansen Julia ,   University Hospital LMU Munich - Institute of Clinical Neuroimmunology, Munich, Germany, Villar de Almeida Augusto Cesar ,   University of São Paulo, Faculty of Medicine, São Paulo, Brazil, Ferrer Valencia Valentina ,   Radiology Department, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, United States, Freund Alain ,   European University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus, Tavarez Mildred ,   American Academy of Pediatrics, Council on Immigrant Child and Family Health, Co-Chair of Member Engagement, Portilla Ana Lucia ,   School of Medicine, Universidad Francisco Marroquín, Guatemala City, Guatemala, Mohamed Abdelaziz ,   Internal Medicine Resident, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar, Carolina Quintero Andrea ,   Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, United States, Malca Calderon Zamar Anyela ,   School of Medicine Alberto Hurtado, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru, Jahanbakhsh Termeh ,   Student at Masters Program for Clinical Research, Dresden International University, Dresden, Germany, Montalván Carlos ,   Facultad de Medicina Clinica Alemana-Universidad del Desarrollo, Santiago, Chile, Milles Dommar Igmilka Dayana ,   Oncology, Hematology and Immunology Department, Helios St. Johannes Klinik, Duisburg, Germany, Adelabu Yusuf ,   Department of Medicine, Faculty of Clinical Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria
Published: February 2024

Introduction: Air pollution exposure has been associated with general negative effects on the nervous system and, consequently, on children’s neurodevelopment. This review aims to assess the main damages of prenatal air pollution exposure on the offspring’s neurodevelopment. Methods: A systematic review was conducted using PubMed/Medline, Cochrane, Ovid, and Scopus. The studies from the last ten years were assessed in compliance with PRISMA 2020 Guidelines and evaluated regarding quality. Results: From an initial 675 references, 24 observational studies encompassing 115,228 children aged 0 to 10 years were deemed eligible. On average, the women in the studies were around 30 years old at delivery. Various exposure assessment methods, pollutants, and neurodevelopmental outcome scales were utilized. All the studies included found an association between air pollutant exposure and neurodevelopment in different magnitudes. All 24 studies included in our review were observational and, therefore, assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS). Of them, 19 were considered good quality, 1 was fair quality, and 4 were poor quality. Conclusion: This comprehensive review presents evidence suggesting that prenatal exposure to air pollution has a harmful impact on cognitive and neurological development in offspring. However, future studies are needed to corroborate these results.