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Pollutants

Air pollution major risk for cardiovascular disease regardless of country income

A massive study using data from the long-running Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study found a 5% increase in all cardiovascular events for every 10 microgram-per-cubic-meter increase in concentration of air pollutant particles under 2.5 microns in size (PM2.5).

Factoring in the vast range of concentrations in PM2.5 recorded across the globe, that means 14% of all cardiovascular events documented in the study can be attributed to PM2.5 exposure.

The strongest association between air pollution exposure and health outcomes was for strokes.

The data came from 157,436 adults aged 35-70, in 21 countries, from 2003-2018.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-06/osu-sap062320.php

Hystad, P. et al. (2020). Associations of outdoor fine particulate air pollution and cardiovascular disease in 157 436 individuals from 21 high-income, middle-income, and low-income countries (PURE): A prospective cohort study. The Lancet Planetary Health, 4(6), e235–e245. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(20)30103-0

Exposure to pollution linked to brain atrophy, memory decline

Data from 998 older women (73-87) participating in the long-running Women’s Health Initiative Study of Cognitive Aging found that those exposed to higher levels of air pollution experienced greater declines in episodic memory and more Alzheimer’s-like brain atrophy than those who breathed cleaner air.

The finding is consistent with previous research indicating that fine particle pollution exposure increases the risk for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. Fine particle pollution is also associated with asthma, cardiovascular disease, lung disease and premature death.

Factors such as differences in income, education, race, geographic region, cigarette smoking, were taken into account in the analysis.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-11/uosc-etp112019.php

Younan D, Petkus AJ, Widaman KF, et al. Particulate matter and episodic memory decline mediated by early neuroanatomic biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease [published correction appears in Brain. 2020 Mar 1;143(3):e24]. Brain. 2020;143(1):289-302. doi:10.1093/brain/awz348

Air pollution substantially reduces cognitive ability in older adults

A large Chinese study involving 20,000 people has found that the longer people were exposed to air pollution, the worse their cognitive performance in verbal and math tests. The effect of air pollution on verbal tests became more pronounced with age, especially for men and the less educated.

The study followed the participants from 2010 to 2014, meaning that the same individuals could be assessed as air pollution varied from one year to the next.

The findings add to previous research showing the harmful effects of air pollution on cognitive performance in children.

Air pollution during pregnancy linked to cognitive impairment in children

Research using data from a population-based birth cohort from Rotterdam, in The Netherlands, has found that children exposed to higher levels of air pollution when they were in womb had significantly thinner cortex in several brain regions. Some of this appeared to be related to impaired inhibitory control.

Working with solvents linked to cognitive problems in less-educated people

The study involved 4,134 people (average age 59) who worked at the French national gas and electric company, of whom most worked at the company for their entire career. Their lifetime exposure to chlorinated solvents, petroleum solvents, benzene and non-benzene aromatic solvents was estimated, and they were given the Digit Symbol Substitution Test to assess cognitive performance. Cognitive impairment was defined as scoring below the 25th percentile. Most of the participants (88%) were retired.

Air pollution linked to age-related cognitive decline

Data from the Nurses' Health Study Cognitive Cohort, involving 19,409 older women (70-81), has found that higher levels of long-term exposure to air pollution were associated with faster rates of cognitive decline over a four-year period.

For each 10 micrograms per cubic meter of air increase in pollutants, cognitive decline was comparable to two years of age-related decline.

Pollution exposure was estimated from geography. Cognition was tested by three telephone interviews, administered at roughly two-year intervals.

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Prenatal exposure to urban air pollutants affects cognitive development

A study of 183 three-year-old children of non-smoking African-American and Dominican women residing in New York City has found that exposure during pregnancy to combustion-related urban air pollutants (specifically, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) was linked to significantly lower scores on mental development tests and more than double the risk of developmental delay at age three.

Camann, D., Kinney, P., Perera, F. P., Rauh, V. A., Whyatt, R. M., Tsai, W.-Y., … Tu, Y.-H. (2006). Effect of Prenatal Exposure to Airborne Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons on Neurodevelopment in the First 3 Years of Life among Inner-City Children. Environmental Health Perspectives, 114(8), 1287-1292. Retrieved from http://ehsehplp03.niehs.nih.gov/article/fetchArticle.action?articleURI=info%3Adoi%2F10.1289%2Fehp.9084

Full text available at http://www.ehponline.org/members/2006/9084/9084.pdf

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-04/cums-iue042506.php

Prenatal exposure to secondhand smoke increases risk of developmental delay

A new study funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences has found that children whose mothers are exposed during pregnancy to second-hand smoke have reduced scores on tests of cognitive development at age two, when compared to children from smoke-free homes. In addition, the children exposed to second-hand smoke during pregnancy are approximately twice as likely to have developmental scores below 80, which is indicative of developmental delay. These differences were magnified for children whose mothers lived in inadequate housing or had insufficient food or clothing during pregnancy. The combined effect results in a developmental deficit of about seven points in tests of cognitive performance.

Rauh, V.A., Whyatt, R.M., Garfinkel, R., Andrews, H., Hoepner, L., Reyes, A., Diaz, D., Camann, D. & Perera, F.P. 2004. Developmental effects of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke and material hardship among inner-city children. Neurotoxicology and Teratology, 26 (3), 373-385.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-03/nioe-sse031504.php

Abnormal brain blood flow persisting in some Gulf War veterans

So-called ‘Gulf War syndrome’ is a poorly understood chronic condition associated with exposure to neurotoxic chemicals and nerve gas, and despite its name is associated with three main syndromes: impaired cognition (syndrome 1); confusion-ataxia (syndrome 2); central neuropathic pain (syndrome 3). Those with syndrome 2 are the most severely affected. Note that the use of the term ‘impaired cognition’ for syndrome 1 is not meant to indicate that the other syndromes show no impaired cognition; rather, it signals the absence of other primary symptoms such as ataxia and pain.

High levels of city pollution linked to brain damage in children

In yet another study of the effects of pollution on growing brains, it has been found that children who grew up in Mexico City (known for its very high pollution levels) performed significantly worse on cognitive tests than those from Polotitlán, a city with a strong air quality rating.

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