Air Pollution Adversely Affecting Test Scores – By Sintia Radu (usnews.com) / Sept 7 2018
The conclusions of the newly released study out of China carry health and economic costs, researcher says.
Pollution has long been associated with damaging side effects on the human body, causing respiratory problems, heart and liver dysfunction, as well as fatigue, headaches, and lower life expectancy. Now, new research shows the its effects stretch much further than that and may adversely affect brain activity.
A recent study published by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, “The impact of exposure to air pollution on cognitive performance”, connects pollution levels to test scores in language and arithmetic. The research conducted in China concludes that polluted air hinders cognitive ability, especially as people become older. The more time people spend in a polluted environment, the poorer their brain functions, the research finds.
“We find that accumulative exposure to air pollution impedes verbal test scores,” states the study published in the August edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, a scientific journal.
At the same time, long-term exposure to pollution affects people more than short-term exposure, the study reveals. The results are particularly useful for those in charge of environment strategies conducive to cleaner air, say the authors.
“We can (encourage) people to avoid exposure and subsidize air filters, but this might not be as effective as we thought because the long term accumulated levels affect people more,” says Xi Chen, assistant professor of health policy and economics at Yale University and co-author of the study. “Policies need to focus on cleaning up the air instead of avoiding people’s exposure because everyone is exposed to outdoor and indoor air pollution and we cannot avoid it 24/7.”
The study examined 25,000 individuals aged 10 to 92 in 25 provinces across China. People were asked to answer 24 standardized mathematics questions and 34 word-recognition questions. The results were later connected with data about air quality published by the Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection. The research concluded that polluted air hindered cognitive ability, especially as people became older. Simply put, the more time people spent in a polluted environment, the poorer their brain functioned.
As people age, the negative effects are more serious, the study revealed. This can have economic consequences, Chen says.
“The damage on the aging brain by air pollution likely imposes substantial health and economic costs, considering that cognitive functioning is critical for the elderly for both running daily errands and making high-stake decisions,” the study reads.
Those economic costs may weigh heaviest on developing countries. According to the World Health Organization, or WHO, more than 80 percent of people living in urban areas where pollution is measured breathe low-quality air. The top 20 most polluted cities can be found in developing countries, while almost all cities in low- and middle-income nations with more than 100,000 people don’t meet the WHO standards. Outdoor air pollution in urban and rural areas caused about 4.2 million premature deaths globally in 2016. According to WHO, this is due by small particles that once in the body lead to cardiovascular and respiratory disease, as well as cancer.
The study also found that men are more likely to be affected by high levels of air pollution than women. The research also suggests that pollution may affect male admissions into college. Without considering other factors, males in polluted environments will perform worse than females in college entrance examinations, the research asserts.
The study also states that pollution has a direct impact on decision-making, attitudes toward risk and behavior. This research should not be seen as particular to China, but should be considered in all other parts of the world, because air pollution is a global issue, Chen says.
“(More than) 90 percent are in this situation, so this study is also applicable to the European setting or the American setting,” Chen says. “This should be generalized.”
The research from China builds on earlier findings tying air pollution to brain activity. Air pollution may be adversely affecting brain development of young children, according to a far-reaching study published last November by UNICEF, the U.N. agency that provides humanitarian and developmental assistance to children and mothers in developing countries.
The impact of air pollution, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, directly affects human health, animals, the physical environment and climate.
An estimated 92 percent of the world’s population lives in areas with dangerous levels of polluted air, according to WHO, the U.N.’s agency that examines international public health issues. The agency has estimated that about 7 million people annually die around the world from air pollution.
In one study on the impact of air pollution in Central and Eastern Europe, WHO found a combination of public policy, as well as structural and behavioral changes, can significantly reduce air pollution.
