APRIL 2, 2015
Air pollution can be bad for children – starting even before
birth, a new study suggests.
Researchers studied exposure to polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons, or PAHs, a form of pollution caused by burning gasoline, diesel
fuel, home heating oil and coal. They found that prenatal exposure to these compounds
was tied to changes in the structure of offspring’s brains and to intellectual
deficits and behavioral problems in childhood.
The researchers measured PAH concentrations in the air and
in the blood and urine of 40 mothers in their third trimester of pregnancy, as
well as in their children’s urine. They followed the children until they were 7
to 9 years old, performing M.R.I. exams on their brains. The results
are in JAMA Psychiatry.
The higher the exposure to PAHs, the more reductions the
children had in the white matter surface of the left hemispheres of their
brains. The amount of damaged white matter correlated directly with higher
scores on measures of symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and
other behavioral problems.
Higher exposure to PAHs and white matter deterioration were
also associated with lower scores on tests of processing speed, the ability to
take in new information and respond to it.
“Everyone is exposed to these compounds,” said the lead
author, Dr. Bradley S. Peterson, director of the Institute for the Developing
Mind at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. “Pregnant women and young children are
very vulnerable to environmental insults to the developing brain, and these
exposures are likely having devastating effects.”
Source: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com