Traffic fumes risk to IVF couples as living by road could cut chances of conceiving by 25%



Living near a busy road cuts the chances of fertility treatment being successful by almost a quarter, researchers have warned.

A study of thousands of IVF patients found those who regularly breathed in traffic fumes were up to 24 per cent less likely to conceive than those who lived in less polluted areas.

Nitrogen dioxide - a toxin pumped out by car and lorry exhaust pipes, power stations and gas cookers - has as big an impact on a woman's chances of having a baby as ageing, the experts said.

Living by a busy road could reduce the chances of fertility treatment being successful by almost a quarter, new research has shown



Although air pollution has previously been linked to premature delivery, low birthweight and birth defects, the latest study is the first to show it could affect a woman's chances of conceiving in the first place.

The researchers compared the success rates of almost 7,500 IVF patients with the levels of pollution near their homes and the clinics where they were being treated.

Levels of IVF success were higher than the average reading of 0.019 parts per million (ppm) near a woman's home or her IVF clinic

And they found consistent evidence to show higher levels of nitrogen dioxide in the air was linked to lower odds of IVF success.

When levels were higher than the average reading of 0.019 parts per million (ppm) near a woman's home or her IVF clinic, the chances of having a baby dipped.

Every 0.01 ppm rise cut the odds by between 13 and 24 per cent, according to the study results, published in the journal Human Reproduction.

Some 37,000 women undergo IVF in the UK each year, leading to 13,700 babies.

The University of Pennsylvania researchers said it appeared that air pollution, like smoking, could damage a woman's chances of becoming a mother.



Scientists have yet to discover exactly how nitrogen dioxide causes harm, but it may be that fumes damage the eggs themselves or cut blood flow to the womb and placenta.

Study author Dr Richard Legro said he had found 'significant links between air pollution and inflammation and increased blood clotting. These factors are also associated with reproductive health'.

But he urged women who are about to start IVF treatment not to panic.

'We still need to do further studies and confirm these findings. It's too soon to say what the ultimate effects (of air pollution) on reproduction are,' he said.

Dr Legro said test-tube babies would be especially vulnerable to any damage and natural conceptions would not necessarily be affected in the same way.

But, he added, as IVF treatment becomes more common, the impact of pollution will become greater.