Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA; Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA.
Environ Res. 2024 Dec 15;263(Pt 3):120272. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2024.120272. Epub 2024 Oct 30.
Radon is a colorless, odorless radioactive gas that is naturally occurring in the environment, originating from the decay of uranium that exists in the earth's crust. In addition to lung cancer, radon exposure has recently been associated with hypertension and cardiovascular disease. However, little consideration has been given to radon exposure during pregnancy, even though pregnant people are a more vulnerable population and ionizing radiation is a known risk factor for adverse maternal and fetal outcomes. There is also greater recognition of the potential effect of ambient particle radioactivity. The radioactivity of ambient particles is primarily due to the decay of radon progeny, and thus another source of exposure to radiation due to radon decay. We systematically searched and evaluated the literature and summarized the current evidence on radon and particle radioactivity exposure during pregnancy. While the literature is sparse, we identified eight human studies that address this topic. The accumulated evidence suggests that radon and particle radioactivity may be associated with a range of adverse pregnancy outcomes, including gestational diabetes and hypertension and fetal development. Additionally, we highlight several potential biological pathways by which radon may affect maternal and fetal health. The ubiquity of radon and ambient particle radioactivity exposure, biological plausibility and results of early studies all suggest radon exposure during pregnancy is an important topic that merits further investigation.
氡是一种无色、无味的放射性气体，天然存在于环境中，源自地壳中存在的铀衰变。除了肺癌，氡暴露最近还与高血压和心血管疾病有关。然而，尽管孕妇是一个更脆弱的人群，电离辐射是不良母婴结局的已知危险因素，但人们对怀孕期间的氡暴露几乎没有考虑。人们也越来越认识到环境颗粒放射性的潜在影响。环境颗粒的放射性主要是由于氡的子体衰变，因此由于氡衰变而导致另一种辐射暴露源。我们系统地搜索和评估了文献，并总结了目前关于怀孕期间氡和颗粒放射性暴露的证据。尽管文献稀少，但我们确定了八项涉及该主题的人类研究。积累的证据表明，氡和颗粒放射性可能与一系列不良妊娠结局有关，包括妊娠糖尿病、高血压和胎儿发育。此外，我们还强调了氡可能影响母婴健康的几个潜在生物学途径。氡和环境颗粒放射性暴露的普遍性、生物学合理性以及早期研究的结果都表明，怀孕期间的氡暴露是一个值得进一步研究的重要课题。
