Agricultural fires in Brazil harm infant health, a warning for the developing world.

Agricultural fires in Brazil harm infant health, a warning for the developing world. Anew research has shown that exposure to pollution from agricultural fires in the last few months of gestation leads to earlier birth and smaller babies. Researchers at Princeton and Duke universities gathered information from satellites, pollution monitors and birth records to untangle those competing influences and accurately measure the impact of pollution from the fires. They found that exposure to pollution from the fires in the last few months of gestation leads to earlier birth and smaller babies, and they found some evidence of increased fetal mortality. Conditions in early life, including in-utero, have been shown to affect children's long term outcomes, not only in terms of health but also their educational and economic success.