Dataset Information

Association between traffic-related air pollution in schools and cognitive development in primary school children: a prospective cohort study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Air pollution is a suspected developmental neurotoxicant. Many schools are located in close proximity to busy roads, and traffic air pollution peaks when children are at school. We aimed to assess whether exposure of children in primary school to traffic-related air pollutants is associated with impaired cognitive development.

Methods and findings

We conducted a prospective study of children (n = 2,715, aged 7 to 10 y) from 39 schools in Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain) exposed to high and low traffic-related air pollution, paired by school socioeconomic index; children were tested four times (i.e., to assess the 12-mo developmental trajectories) via computerized tests (n = 10,112). Chronic traffic air pollution (elemental carbon [EC], nitrogen dioxide [NO2], and ultrafine particle number [UFP; 10-700 nm]) was measured twice during 1-wk campaigns both in the courtyard (outdoor) and inside the classroom (indoor) simultaneously in each school pair. Cognitive development was assessed with the n-back and the attentional network tests, in particular, working memory (two-back detectability), superior working memory (three-back detectability), and inattentiveness (hit reaction time standard error). Linear mixed effects models were adjusted for age, sex, maternal education, socioeconomic status, and air pollution exposure at home. Children from highly polluted schools had a smaller growth in cognitive development than children from the paired lowly polluted schools, both in crude and adjusted models (e.g., 7.4% [95% CI 5.6%-8.8%] versus 11.5% [95% CI 8.9%-12.5%] improvement in working memory, p = 0.0024). Cogently, children attending schools with higher levels of EC, NO2, and UFP both indoors and outdoors experienced substantially smaller growth in all the cognitive measurements; for example, a change from the first to the fourth quartile in indoor EC reduced the gain in working memory by 13.0% (95% CI 4.2%-23.1%). Residual confounding for social class could not be discarded completely; however, the associations remained in stratified analyses (e.g., for type of school or high-/low-polluted area) and after additional adjustments (e.g., for commuting, educational quality, or smoking at home), contradicting a potential residual confounding explanation.

Conclusions

Children attending schools with higher traffic-related air pollution had a smaller improvement in cognitive development.

SUBMITTER: Sunyer J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4348510 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Association between traffic-related air pollution in schools and cognitive development in primary school children: a prospective cohort study.

Sunyer Jordi J Esnaola Mikel M Alvarez-Pedrerol Mar M Forns Joan J Rivas Ioar I López-Vicente Mònica M Suades-González Elisabet E Foraster Maria M Garcia-Esteban Raquel R Basagaña Xavier X Viana Mar M Cirach Marta M Moreno Teresa T Alastuey Andrés A Sebastian-Galles Núria N Nieuwenhuijsen Mark M Querol Xavier X

PLoS medicine 20150303 3

<h4>Background</h4>Air pollution is a suspected developmental neurotoxicant. Many schools are located in close proximity to busy roads, and traffic air pollution peaks when children are at school. We aimed to assess whether exposure of children in primary school to traffic-related air pollutants is associated with impaired cognitive development.<h4>Methods and findings</h4>We conducted a prospective study of children (n = 2,715, aged 7 to 10 y) from 39 schools in Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain) exp ...[more]

PMID: 25734425

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Project description:Epidemiological studies have demonstrated associations between long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution and coronary heart disease (CHD). Atherosclerosis is the principal pathological process responsible for CHD events, but effects of traffic-related air pollution on progression of atherosclerosis are not clear. This study aimed to investigate associations between long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution and progression of carotid artery atherosclerosis.Healthy volunteers in metropolitan Vancouver, Canada.509 participants aged 30-65 years were recruited and followed for approximately 5 years. At baseline and end of follow-up, participants underwent carotid artery ultrasound examinations to assess atherosclerosis severity, including carotid intima-media thickness, plaque area, plaque number and total area. Annual change of each atherosclerosis marker during the follow-up period was calculated as the difference between these two measurements divided by years of follow-up. Living close to major roads was defined as ?150 m from a highway or ?50 m from a major road. Residential exposures to traffic-related air pollutants including black carbon, fine particles, nitrogen dioxide and nitric oxide were estimated using high-resolution land-use regression models. The data were analysed using general linear models adjusting for various covariates.At baseline, there were no significant differences in any atherosclerosis markers between participants living close to and those living away from major roads. After follow-up, the differences in annual changes of these markers between these two groups were small and not statistically significant. Also, no significant associations were observed with concentrations of traffic-related air pollutants including black carbon, fine particles, nitrogen dioxide and nitric oxide.This study did not find significant associations between traffic-related air pollution and progression of carotid artery atherosclerosis in a region with lower levels and smaller contrasts of ambient air pollution.

Project description:IntroductionCommuting exposes millions of people to carcinogens from traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) but is seldomly considered in epidemiologic studies of lung cancer. In the prospective United Kingdom (UK) Biobank cohort study, we investigated associations between commute patterns, residential nitrogen dioxide concentrations (NO2; a surrogate for TRAP), and lung cancer risk.MethodsWe analyzed 234,124 employed participants at baseline (2006-2010). There were 493 incident lung cancer cases diagnosed over an average 7-year follow-up. Subjects were cross-classified into exclusive categories of commute mode (automobile, public transportation, walking, cycling, active mixture, and other mixture) and frequency (regular: 1-4, often: ≥5 work-bound trips/week). Annual average residential NO2 concentrations in 2005-2007 were estimated with land use regression. Multivariable Cox regression was used to estimate associations between commute patterns, NO2 quartiles, and incident lung cancer. We conducted analyses stratified by NO2 (>, ≤median = 28.3 µg/m3) and potential confounders such as sex and smoking.ResultsCompared to regular automobile use, commuting often by public transportation was associated with increased lung cancer risk (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.58, 95% confidence intervals (CI):1.08-2.33). Additionally, we found a positive exposure-response relationship with residential NO2 (HRQ2 = 1.21, 95 %CI: 0.90-1.62; HRQ3 = 1.48, 95 %CI: 1.10-1.99; HRQ4 = 1.58, 95 %CI: 1.13-2.23; p-trend = 3.1 × 10-3). The public transportation association was observed among those with higher NO2 (p-interaction = 0.02). Other commute categories were not associated with risk.ConclusionsCommuters residing in high-NO2 areas who often use public transportation could have elevated lung cancer risk compared to regular automobile users. These results warrant investigations into which component(s) of public transportation contribute to the observed association with increased lung cancer risk.

Project description:BackgroundTraffic-related air pollution is emerging as a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and impaired brain development. Individual differences in vulnerability to air pollution may involve the ε4 allele of Apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene, the primary genetic risk factor for AD.ObjectiveWe analyzed whether the association between traffic air pollution and neurodevelopmental outcomes is modified by APOEε4 status in children.MethodsData on parent-reported behavior problems (total difficulties scores, Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire), teacher-reported attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptom scores, cognitive performance trajectories (computerized tests of inattentiveness and working memory repeated 2-4 times during January 2012-March 2013), and APOE genotypes were obtained for 1,667 children age 7-11 y attending 39 schools in or near Barcelona. Basal ganglia volume (putamen, caudate, and globus pallidum) was measured in 163 of the children by MRI (October 2012-April 2014.) Average annual outdoor polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), elemental carbon (EC), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations were estimated based on measurements at each school (two 1-wk campaigns conducted 6 months apart in 2012).ResultsAPOEε4 allele carriers had significantly higher behavior problem scores than noncarriers, and adverse associations with PAHs and NO2 were stronger or limited to ε4 carriers for behavior problem scores (P-interaction 0.03 and 0.04), caudate volume (P-interaction 0.04 and 0.03), and inattentiveness trajectories (P-interaction 0.15 and 0.08, respectively). Patterns of associations with the same outcomes were similar for EC.ConclusionPAHs, EC, and NO2 were associated with higher behavior problem scores, smaller reductions in inattentiveness over time, and smaller caudate volume in APOEε4 allele carriers in our study population, and corresponding associations were weak or absent among ε4 noncarriers. These findings support a potential role of APOE in biological mechanisms that may contribute to associations between air pollution and neurobehavioral outcomes in children. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP2246.

Dataset Information

Association between traffic-related air pollution in schools and cognitive development in primary school children: a prospective cohort study.

Background

Methods and findings

Conclusions

Publications

Association between traffic-related air pollution in schools and cognitive development in primary school children: a prospective cohort study.

Similar Datasets

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