Herein attempted to connect three concepts: (1) environmental exposure to contaminants, (2) the induction of oxidative stress in the placenta and (3) obstetric diseases of placental origin. The mechanistic studies that we present seem to demonstrate that the impact of environmental pollutants upon the health risk is genuine and that the generation of oxidative stress in the placenta is a sensible and truthful mediator of placental diseases. As such, in the STOX1 mouse model of preeclampsia, we have shown previously that oxidative/nitrosative stress is a major cause of the onset of the disease
[57][58], corroborating the importance of this pathway in hypertensive disorders of pregnancy
[59][60].
Specific environmental pollutants are now produced
en masse for novel technological developments, for instance, connected to the upsurge of electric vehicles in many countries, leading to an exponential production of batteries that may release novel molecules in our environment. These batteries depend upon the use of rare elements (neodymium, lanthanum, terbium, dysprosium, lithium, cobalt that may reveal their effect on placental health in the future). For example, an ancient German publication revealed that in highly contaminated environments, traces of lanthanum and bromide are detectable in the placentas
[61]. There is more recent literature regarding lithium exposure, showing, for instance, in an Argentinian mother-child cohort, that elevated exposure to this metal as well as to boron, arsenic, and antimony induced a reduction of the telomere length in the placenta (especially through arsenic exposure, while lithium apparently induced elongation of the telomeres in maternal tissues
[62]). Earlier, lithium in the maternal blood was shown negatively associated with all fetal measures of size
[63]. By itself, lithium has been recurrently associated with oxidative stress, including in placental cells
[64]. Cobalt is also a potential risk factor since exposure to this metal in cells mimics hypoxia, by itself a potential cause of oxidative stress. Besides these technological novelties in transportation, other industrial developments linked to ecological concerns, such as recycling activities (for instance, of electronic material, called ‘e-waste’), increase the risk of propagating novel molecules in the atmosphere. Recently, a meta-analysis revealed that amongst 20 studies
[65], one explored DNA damage in the placenta
[66] and found reduced telomere length in this organ; in this study, cadmium placental concentrations were associated with the phenotype; since oxidative stress (such as caused by cadmium exposure) is linked to telomer attrition
[67], this is a possible mechanism, albeit not directly studied in the paper. The authors surmised that improper e-waste processing was the primary cause of the exposure. In the future, such exposition may gain in importance. Other important sources that can be expected are flame retardants such as polybrominated biphenyl esters (PBDE,
[68][69]), polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs), or other molecules. Overall, recycling consequences of e-waste exposure in China have been reviewed, including in the placenta
[70]. Plausible health consequences remain an important preoccupation for the future.
In conclusion, the induction of oxidative stress in the placenta by environmental toxicants has been studied in a very limited number of cases (as summarized in Figure 2). Similar to other tissues or organs, these studies point to the mitochondria and the cellular antioxidant activity (both enzymatic and non-enzymatic) as main targets. However, to design effective therapeutic approaches, more studies using in vivo and in vitro models are required to investigate the precise mechanisms involved in the induction of oxidative stress by at least the principal pollutants known to impact pregnancy.