From the moment a woman learns she is pregnant, life as she knows it changes forever. In many ways the nine months of pregnancy serve as a prelude for a lifetime of sacrifices that the parents will make for their child. One of the most important, and often overlooked, contributors to the health of a baby is the physical environment. This is because fetal development occurs faster than any other stage of life. As the vital organs of the fetus develop, they are indirectly exposed to the mother's living environment.

Contaminants found in an environment that can lead to developmental deficiencies are called teratogens. Pollutants, such as pesticides, smoke, and vehicle emissions are some of the more common teratogens that expectant mothers come into contact with on a regular basis.

When selecting a home, they should avoid locations near agricultural (non-organic) farming, industrial centers such as oil refineries or coal processing centers, landfills, busy highways, transmission lines or microwave towers. When an expectant mother inhales, consumes, or absorbs environmental teratogens they circulate through her bloodstream and affect the developing fetus. The potential effects are contingent upon the agent, amount and level of exposure, and at which developmental stage the exposure occurred. Some of the possible effects of environmental teratogens include:

• Miscarriage

• Inhibited growth

• Physical defects

• Metabolic dysfunction, such as hypoglycemia

• Neurobehavorial dysfunctions such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Many expectant mothers lack the finances or knowledge to select the environmental conditions around their home. For example, a young family may come from an area where agriculture has been their primary way of life for many generations, and moving away from the area is not option. In such a situation design can help reduce the levels of exterior teratogens that come into the home. For example:

• Make sure tight seals can be established when all windows and doors are closed.

• Replace single-glazed windows with double or triple glazing.

• Close chimney flues when the fireplace is not in use.

• For homes that do not sit on a concrete foundation, make sure that the crawl space or basement is also tightly sealed because exterior pollutants can find their way in the home through tiny gaps in the flooring and into some of the ventilation ductwork.

• Have the home checked for the presence of radon gas.

• Make sure that hard surface flooring is around all entry/exits of the home because teratogens can be tracked into a home on the soles of shoes.

• Require visitors to remove their shoes upon entering the home. Consider a shoe rack near the door to encourage guests to remove their shoes.

• Damp mop the areas around the entry/exits at least twice a day.

• For those who rely on agriculture for a living, consider incorporating a mudroom.

• Install carbon monoxide monitors in homes with attached garages.

• Avoid laying new carpeting or renovating the kitchen due to the off gassing of chemicals from new materials. New furniture is treated with flame-retardants, which are highly toxic.

• Use only natural personal care products because chemicals are easily absorbed through the skin. Nail polish for example is highly toxic.

Today we have many more sources of environmental pollution and the contamination level in most areas is higher than ever, so it is difficult to escape the many sources of outdoor pollution. A fetus is particularly susceptible to environmental pollutants because its organs and organ systems are developing rapidly. Therefore the location of a home is an important consideration. Where one's home is located is not always an option, but with some modifications the duration and concentration level of outdoor pollution brought inside can be dramatically reduced (i.e. high levels of pollutants in a fixed amount of space [a home] translates into higher concentrations).

Published: October 10, 2007

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