Disrupt messenger substances

Nanoparticles are a risk for unborn babies

Little is yet known about the possible health effects of nanoparticles on pregnancy. However, a recent study by Swiss researchers now shows that the microscopically small particles pose a risk to babies in the womb.

According to the study, certain nanoparticles can impair the formation of blood vessels. This is because they disrupt the production of a large number of messenger substances in the placenta, as the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) announced on Thursday.

A team led by Tania Bürki recently investigated how the placental barrier copes with nanoparticles that are only a few millionths of a millimeter in size. Earlier studies had already shown that the placenta allows some of the tiny particles to pass through.

Mysterious remote effect
However, the placental barrier can keep many of them away from the unborn baby. However, damage to the fetal tissue was still visible in some cases, according to Empa. Even if no particles were detected in the foetus.

What are nanoparticles?

The term nanoparticles refers to assemblies of a few to several thousand atoms or molecules. The word "nano" refers to their size, which is typically between one and 100 nanometers (one nanometer is one millionth of a millimeter).

They have now shown how this indirect damage occurs in a study published in the journal "Advanced Science". They used fully functional human placentas that were made available after planned caesarean sections. They added nanoparticles such as titanium dioxide or diesel soot to the tissue of these placentas.

Interfering with the production of messenger substances
The experiments showed that nanoparticles in placental tissue disrupt the production of messenger substances. And it is these messenger substances that can trigger serious changes in embryonic development, such as damaged blood vessel formation.

However, initial results show that the development of the nervous system does not appear to be affected. Further analyses will now show which other disorders nanoparticles can indirectly trigger.