Mother's Exposure to Urban Air Pollutants Affects Children's Cognitive Abilities

Mother's Exposure to Urban Air Pollutants Affects Children's Cognitive Abilities

Frederica Perera, DrPH
Columbia University
NIEHS Grant R01ES10165

An NIEHS-supported study carried out in Krakow, Poland reports prenatal exposure to air pollutants adversely affected the cognitive development of children at age five. These findings confirm a similar study conducted earlier in New York City.

The study was conducted in a cohort of 214 children born to healthy non-smoking women in Krakow, Poland between 2001 and 2006. During pregnancy, the mothers wore small backpack mounted personal air monitors to estimate their babies' exposures to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). PAHs are released into the air as fossil fuels are burned for purposes such as transportation, heating, and energy production. Exposure to these compounds is widespread in urban environments throughout the world.

At age five, the children took a standard intelligence examination. They were divided into two groups: children with exposures higher and lower than the median prenatal exposure to PAHs (17.96 nanograms/cubic meter of air). Children in the high exposure group scored worse on the intelligence exam by about 4 IQ points. This effect was comparable to the study conducted with the New York City children and is similar to studies on lead poisoning. The finding is of concern because IQ is an important predictor of future academic and economic performance.

Citation: Prenatal Exposure to Airborne Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Children's Intelligence at Age 5 in a Prospective Cohort Study in Poland Susan Claire Edwards, Wieslaw Jedrychowski, Maria Butscher, David Camann, Agnieszka Kieltyka, Elzbieta Mroz, Elzbieta Flak, Zhigang Li, Shuang Wang, Virginia Rauh, Frederica Perera Online 20 Apr 2010 | doi:10.1289/ehp.0901070
Mother's Exposure to Urban Air Pollutants Affects Children's Cognitive Abilities