Chinese researchers made a shocking discovery about pollution in 2023

Global pollution has been getting worse and at no time was this better exemplified than in the spring of 2023 when severe dust storms in Asia blanketed several countries in yellow dust.

Dust storms are a yearly occurrence in most Asian nations throughout spring but 2023 proved to be one of the worst years on record for dust from the Gobi Desert making its way to neighboring countries.

The sandstorms began in March and within the first few weeks, Asia had seen four major events that coasted countries in dangerous dust that had a serious impact on pollution levels according to BBC News.

"It aggravates air pollution and puts people at greater risk of respiratory disease as the particles are small enough to be inhaled into the lungs," wrote journalists from BBC News.

The storms were worrying but came just months after researchers in China released an interesting new study that showed high levels of pollution in the country's air were leading to increased death among unborn children.

The study was administered by one of China’s most prestigious universities and blamed pollution for thousands of the country's stillbirths. But the findings weren't what you might think. 

Fine particles in China’s polluted air were found to be killing upwards of 64,000 babies in the womb each year according to lead researcher Xue Tao and his team from Peking University. 

The findings were a major disappointment for the country’s leadership, who have been trying their hardest to address China’s pollution problem over the last decade. 

According to the study, which was published in Nature Communications, China ranked fourth in the world for fetal deaths caused by exposure to fine particulate matter, which accounts for roughly 98% of stillbirths worldwide. 

“Improved air quality in some of the 137 countries (e.g. China) might underlie the reduction in the global burden of stillbirths. Therefore, meeting the World Health Organisation air quality targets could prevent stillbirths,” the study’s researchers wrote.

The study’s analysis of 137 countries also revealed that roughly 40% of child stillbirths in Asia, Africa, and Latin America were the result of exposure to fine particulate matter that was smaller than 2.5 microns, which is mostly produced through the burning of fossil fuels.

India recorded the largest number of fine particulate matter deaths with 217,000 in 2015, followed closely by Pakistan and Nigeria. 

Though the link between exposure to fine particulate matter polluted air and stillbirths has been widely proven, Xue Tao and his team gave the scientific world’s findings more credence by being the first researchers to actually trace and calculate the number of fetal deaths associated with fine particulate matter exposure. 

More than 2 million stillbirths were recorded in the countries that were studied by Xue Tao and his team was able to link roughly 40% of those deaths to fine particulate matter exposure that exceeded the World Health Organization’s limit of 10 μg/m3.

Overall the study found that women who were exposed to levels of air pollution above 10 μg/m3 increased their risk of having a stillbirth by 11%. 

Moreover, older mothers had a significantly higher risk of having a stillbirth compared to their younger counterparts, a finding that may indicate long-term exposure to air pollution may have some impact on one’s ability to have a healthy birth. 

The researchers were still unclear as to how air pollution actually causes fetal deaths, but the study’s team theorized that fine particulate matter may be able to penetrate through the placenta and cause “irreversible embryonic damage.”

A 2016 study by a different group of Chinese researchers led by Yi Liu found that pregnant rats that were exposed to fine particulate matter suffered severe and “adverse perinatal outcomes.”

Air pollution has become an increasingly serious public concern in the last decade and China’s government has the world hard to both understand and mitigate the problem. 

“In recent years, China has been working hard on treating air pollution and has seen rapid improvement in air quality as a result,” said Zhu Tong, another leading author of the study, “which is of great importance to the protection of the health of pregnant women and children.”

In 2017, a South Korea study discovered a link between the air pollution of yellow dust storm events in fetal health, finding that pregnant women exposed to the yellow dust could impact fetal weight, gestation periods, and lead to babies being born underweight.

Unfortunately, fine particulate matter pollution is also a problem that affects the rest of the world. Many parts of North America and Europe suffer from elevated levels of pollution, including major cities like Chicago, Milan, and Sofia.