A study explores the effects of air pollution on cognition. While the health consequences of air pollution are well known, few studies have examined the impact of air pollution on cognitive abilities. Xiaobo Zhang and colleagues examined the relationship between cognitive test scores, taken from the nationally representative China Family Panel Studies longitudinal survey of 162 randomly chosen counties in China conducted in 2010 and 2014, and transient and up to 3 years of cumulative air pollution exposure calculated from official air pollution index values. Both verbal and math scores decreased with increasing cumulative air pollution exposure, with a steeper decline for verbal scores than math scores. The decline in verbal scores was more pronounced among males than females. Among males, the decline in verbal scores became more pronounced with age, and this age dependence was greater in those with less than a middle school education compared with those with a middle school education or higher. The authors estimated that reducing fine particulate matter concentrations in China to the US Environmental Protection Agency standard would increase verbal and math scores by 2.41 and 0.39 points, respectively, equivalent to an increase from the median to the 63rd and 58th percentiles, respectively. According to the authors, the results suggest that the economic cost of air pollution could be greater than previously thought.
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Article #18-09474: "The impact of exposure to air pollution on cognitive performance," by Xin Zhang, Xi Chen, and Xiaobo Zhang.
MEDIA CONTACT: Xiaobo Zhang, Peking University, Beijing, CHINA; International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC; tel: +86-10-62758563; e-mail: <x.zhang@cgiar.org>; Xi Chen, Yale University, New Haven, CT; tel: 607-220-4172; e-mail: xi.chen@yale.edu
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences