A study of newborns in New York City found exposure of expectant mothers to air pollution altered the structure of the babies' chromosomes in the womb.
    The air pollutants considered in this study include emissions from cars, trucks, bus engines, residential heating, power generation and tobacco smoking. This is the first study to show that environmental exposures to specific combustion pollutants during pregnancy can result in chromosomal abnormalities in fetal tissues, said Kenneth Olden, director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.