Air Pollution and Cigarettes Cloud Development

Brain development is impaired by gestational exposure to airborne toxins from ambient air pollution or cigarette smoke. The placenta is damaged, and fetal growth is retarded. Adult obesity and arterial diseases are promoted. Rodent models of gestational exposure show impaired neuron formation and persisting brain inflammation. Airborne toxins include the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from fossil fuels and cigarettes and carbon monoxide from cigarettes. Mechanisms include epigenetic changes in the DNA methylation of leptin and other metabolic genes that influence the next generation and possibly beyond.