'Fetal side' of the placenta: anatomical mis-annotation of carbon particle 'transfer' across the human placenta.

A mixed biopsy of placenta and decidua (box 3) is also not the "maternal side of the placenta", in the way it is being interpreted in this study. (3) represents an alternative possible location for the "maternal side" biopsy employed by Bové et al. which is a mixed tissue biopsy comprising fetal chorionic villous tissue and anchoring villi, and a layer of maternal decidual tissue. 4), Bové et al. do not show any images of the "maternal biopsies", so it is not possible to determine what tissue/cells are examined, and whether particles are in placental tissue or in decidua (as shown by us in Fig. More definitive reporting of the tissue composition of the biopsies analysed, as well as higher resolution/magnification images that enable accurate localisation of the carbon particles within precise anatomical sites, are necessary to support a convincing case for carbon particle transfer across the human placenta. [Extracted from the article]