Nanoparticles Can Cross Placenta from Mother to Baby

According to a recent study published in Environmental Health Perspectives, nanoparticles can cross the human placenta. Often thought of as a barrier that can protect a developing fetus from the mother’s exposure to environmental pollutants, the placenta was found to be permeable to nanoscale particles of polystyrene.

In the study, placentas of full-term newborn infants were injected on the mother’s side with the nanoparticles. The authors noted that the injection was not intended to represent a realistic scenario, and that it cannot be generalized to all types of nanoparticles, but they wrote that the findings “underscore the need for further nanotoxicologic studies on this important organ system.”