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Effects of short-term exposure to particulate matter air pollution on cognitive performance.

ABSTRACT: This paper assesses the effect of short-term exposure to particulate matter (PM) air pollution on human cognitive performance via a double cross over experimental design. Two distinct experiments were performed, both of which exposed subjects to low and high concentrations of PM. Firstly, subjects completed a series of cognitive tests after being exposed to low ambient indoor PM concentrations and elevated PM concentrations generated via candle burning, which is a well-known source of PM. Secondly, a different cohort underwent cognitive tests after being exposed to low ambient indoor PM concentrations and elevated ambient outdoor PM concentrations via commuting on or next to roads. Three tests were used to assess cognitive performance: Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Stroop Color and Word test, and Ruff 2 & 7 test. The results from the MMSE test showed a statistically robust decline in cognitive function after exposure to both the candle burning and outdoor commuting compared to ambient indoor conditions. The similarity in the results between the two experiments suggests that PM exposure is the cause of the short-term cognitive decline observed in both. The outdoor commuting experiment also showed a statistically significant short-term cognitive decline in automatic detection speed from the Ruff 2 and 7 selective attention test. The other cognitive tests, for both the candle and commuting experiments, showed no statistically significant difference between the high and low PM exposure conditions. The findings from this study are potentially far reaching; they suggest that elevated PM pollution levels significantly affect short term cognition. This implies average human cognitive ability will vary from city to city and country to country as a function of PM air pollution exposure.

SUBMITTER: Shehab MA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6546704 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Effects of short-term exposure to particulate matter air pollution on cognitive performance.

Shehab M A MA Pope F D FD

Scientific reports 20190603 1

This paper assesses the effect of short-term exposure to particulate matter (PM) air pollution on human cognitive performance via a double cross over experimental design. Two distinct experiments were performed, both of which exposed subjects to low and high concentrations of PM. Firstly, subjects completed a series of cognitive tests after being exposed to low ambient indoor PM concentrations and elevated PM concentrations generated via candle burning, which is a well-known source of PM. Second ...[more]

PMID: 31160655

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Project description:BackgroundChronic exposure to particulate air pollution may accelerate cognitive decline in older adults, although data on this association are limited. Our objective was to examine long-term exposure to particulate matter (PM) air pollution, both coarse ([PM 2.5-10 μm in diameter [PM(2.5-10)]) and fine (PM <2.5 μm in diameter [PM(2.5)]), in relation to cognitive decline.MethodsThe study population comprised the Nurses' Health Study Cognitive Cohort, which included 19,409 US women aged 70 to 81 years. We used geographic information system-based spatiotemporal smoothing models to estimate recent (1 month) and long-term (7-14 years) exposures to PM(2.5-10), and PM(2.5) preceding baseline cognitive testing (1995-2001) of participants residing in the contiguous United States. We used generalized estimating equation regression to estimate differences in the rate of cognitive decline across levels of PM(2.5-10) and PM(2.5) exposures. The main outcome measure was cognition, via validated telephone assessments, administered 3 times at approximately 2-year intervals, including tests of general cognition, verbal memory, category fluency, working memory, and attention.ResultsHigher levels of long-term exposure to both PM(2.5-10) and PM(2.5) were associated with significantly faster cognitive decline. Two-year decline on a global score was 0.020 (95% CI, -0.032 to -0.008) standard units worse per 10 μg/m(3) increment in PM(2.5-10) exposure and 0.018 (95% CI, -0.035 to -0.002) units worse per 10 μg/m(3) increment in PM(2.5) exposure. These differences in cognitive trajectory were similar to those between women in our cohort who were approximately 2 years apart in age, indicating that the effect of a 10-μg/m(3) increment in long-term PM exposure is cognitively equivalent to aging by approximately 2 years.ConclusionLong-term exposure to PM(2.5-10) and PM(2.5) at levels typically experienced by many individuals in the United States is associated with significantly worse cognitive decline in older women.

Project description:OBJECTIVE:Air pollution (AP) may affect neurodevelopment, but studies about the effects of AP on the growing human brain are still scarce. We aimed to investigate the effects of prenatal exposure to AP on lateral ventricles (LV) and corpus callosum (CC) volumes in children and to determine whether the induced brain changes are associated with behavioral problems. METHODS:Among the children recruited through a set of representative schools of the city of Barcelona, (Spain) in the Brain Development and Air Pollution Ultrafine Particles in School Children (BREATHE) study, 186 typically developing participants aged 8-12 years underwent brain MRI on the same 1.5?T?MR unit over a 1.5-year period (October 2012-April 2014). Brain volumes were derived from structural MRI scans using automated tissue segmentation. Behavioral problems were assessed using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and the criteria of the Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder DSM-IV list. Prenatal fine particle (PM2.5) levels were retrospectively estimated at the mothers' residential addresses during pregnancy with land use regression (LUR) models. To determine whether brain structures might be affected by prenatal PM2.5 exposure, linear regression models were run and adjusted for age, sex, intracranial volume (ICV), maternal education, home socioeconomic vulnerability index, birthweight and mothers' smoking status during pregnancy. To test for associations between brain changes and behavioral outcomes, negative binomial regressions were performed and adjusted for age, sex, ICV. RESULTS:Prenatal PM2.5 levels ranged from 11.8 to 39.5??g/m3 during the third trimester of pregnancy. An interquartile range increase in PM2.5 level (7??g/m3) was significantly linked to a decrease in the body CC volume (mm3) (??=?-53.7, 95%CI [-92.0, -15.5] corresponding to a 5% decrease of the mean body CC volume) independently of ICV, age, sex, maternal education, socioeconomic vulnerability index at home, birthweight and mothers' smoking status during the third trimester of pregnancy. A 50?mm3 decrease in the body CC was associated with a significant higher hyperactivity subscore (Rate Ratio (RR)?=?1.09, 95%CI [1.01, 1.17) independently of age, sex and ICV. The statistical significance of these results did not survive to False Discovery Rate correction for multiple comparisons. CONCLUSIONS:Prenatal exposure to PM2.5 may be associated with CC volume decrease in children. The consequences might be an increase in behavioral problems.

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Effects of short-term exposure to particulate matter air pollution on cognitive performance.

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Effects of short-term exposure to particulate matter air pollution on cognitive performance.

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