Air Pollution Can Affect Children’s Ability to Learn and Think Critically

By Pamela Ferdinand

Increased exposure to outdoor air pollution in early life can make it harder for children to learn and process information, especially in terms of critical thinking and non-verbal tasks, a new study reports.

The findings, published on Nov. 18 in Environmental Health, are based on a review and analysis of data from six epidemiological studies representing 4,860 children from diverse populations in North America, Europe and Asia.

They underscore growing evidence that air pollution severely impacts childhood health even before birth, with new research published this month showing it can harm embryo quality during in vitro fertilization, or IVF.

This marks the first time, however, that researchers have quantified the correlation between early life exposures to fine airborne particulate matter (PM2.5), a common air pollutant, and declines in verbal and nonverbal mental abilities, as measured by Intelligence Quotient (IQ) scores.

IQ tests assess a range of mental skills, including memory, reasoning, working with numbers, processing language and thinking about objects in three dimensions.

“Without exception, each study reported a negative association between PM2.5 exposure and children’s cognitive function,” say the researchers, including Dr. Philip Landrigan, director of Boston College’s newly launched Global Observatory on Pollution and Health and former cochair of The Lancet Commission on pollution and health.

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