A latest analysis has estimated that the US premature births associated with air pollution cost over $4 billion annually in medical care and lost economic opportunity. Researchers examined air quality data and birth records and found that nearly 16,000 babies take premature birth partially because of air pollution.

The researchers calculated that yearly costs linked to these preemies include roughly $3.6 billion in lost wages and productivity because of physical and mental deficits linked to early arrivals and $760 million for extensive hospitalizations and use of medications for a long time.

In an email, lead study author Dr. Leonardo Trasande, an environmental health researcher at New York University School of Medicine in New York City, said, “Air pollution-associated preterm birth contributes direct medical costs in the first few years of life due to associated conditions, such as in the newborn intensive care unit, as well as lost economic productivity due to developmental disabilities and lost cognitive potential”.

Normally, pregnancy period completes in about 40 weeks, and infants delivered post 37 weeks are called full term born babies.

Immediately post delivery, premature infants often face difficulty in breathing and food digestion. They can also face longer-term challenges, including impaired vision, hearing, and cognitive skills and social and behavioral issues.

Trasande and colleagues have reported in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives that the US preterm birth rate has gone down to 11.4% in 2013, falling from a peak of 12.8% in 2006, but was still higher in comparison to other developed nations.

Based on the data received from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Institute of Medicine, the researchers concluded that air pollution is responsible for roughly 3% of preterm births in the US.