Researchers also reported that higher exposures to small-particle air pollution (PM2.5) when children were 2 to 4 years old was associated with poorer child behavioral functioning and cognitive performance.

“Even in cities like Seattle or San Francisco, which have a lot of traffic but where the pollution levels are still relatively low, we found that children with higher prenatal nitrogen dioxide exposure had more behavioral problems, especially with the exposure in the first and second trimester,” said Yu Ni, lead author.

The study involved data gathered from 1,967 mothers recruited during pregnancy from six cities: Memphis, Tennessee; Minneapolis; Rochester, N.Y.; San Francisco; and two in Washington, Seattle and Yakima. The study employed a state-of-the-art model of air pollution levels in the United States over time and space that was developed at the University of Washington. Using participant address information, the researchers were able to estimate each mother and child’s exposures during the pregnancy period and early childhood.

Exposure to NO2 and PM2.5 pollution in early life is important to understand, Ni said, because “there are known biological mechanisms that can link a mother’s inhalation of these pollutants to effects on placenta and fetal brain development.”   For young children, inhaled pollutants that invade deep in the lung and enter the central nervous system can cause damage in areas relevant for behavioral and cognitive function.

Read the full July 2022  press release from Newswise here

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