Bridging the environment and neurodevelopment for children’s health: Associations between real-time air pollutant exposures and cognitive outcomes

Abstract

Research suggests that children’s exposure to pollutants may impact their neurocognitive development. While researchers have found associations between air pollutants and cognitive development, these associations remain underspecified. Further, these exposures occur in the context of the built environment and may be exacerbated by local social vulnerability; in this context, individuals may experience a suite of socioenvironmental stressors that lead to increased cumulative risk exposure. In this pilot study, we tested whether real-time-measured personal exposure to PM2.5 relates to children’s executive function and mathematical skills, outcomes that may predict later mathematical performance, general academic performance and even employment outcomes. We recruited 30 families to participate in two rounds in Winter 2020 and Summer 2021. We collected children’s demographic data, as well as data about their living environment. In each round, children carried a small device that collected real-time ambient air pollution data for 3 days; parents logged their children’s activities each day. On the last day, children completed cognitive assessments indexing their working memory (n-back), inhibitory control (Go/No-Go), nonsymbolic math skills (dot comparison), and arithmetic skills (equation verification). Overall, 29 participants had pollutant readings from both rounds, and 21 had a full dataset. Nonparametric statistical analysis revealed no significant differences in ambient air pollution and cognitive performance over time, Spearman’s rho correlation assessment found that PM2.5 was not significantly correlated with cognitive outcomes in R1 and R2. However, the correlations suggested that an increase in PM2.5 was associated with worse working memory, inhibitory control, nonsymbolic skills, and arithmetic skills, at least in R1. We used each participant’s zip code-aggregated Social Vulnerability Index, which range from 0 to 1, with higher numbers indicating more social vulnerability. Wilcoxon Rank-Sum tests indicated that participants living in higher SVI zip codes (≥0.70; n = 15) were not significantly different from those living in lower SVI zip codes (<0.70; n = 14), in terms of their PM2.5 exposures and cognitive performance in each round. We also found that socioeconomic characteristics mattered, such that children whose parent (s) had at least a Master’s degree or earned more than $100,000 a year had lower PM2.5 exposures than children in the other end.

The impact of air pollution on neurocognitive development: Adverse effects and health disparities

“…Despite these indicators that historic marginalization, SES, and pollution exposure interact with one another to predict all-cause mortality, their cumulative risk on other specific health consequences, such as neurocognitive outcomes, remains to be fully examined. A recent pilot study (Medrano et al, 2022) provides an important step in this direction by investigating cognitive performance as a function of real-time measured personal exposure to PM 2.5 (measured using personal monitoring devices carried by participants for a 3-day period) and zip code-aggregated social vulnerability indices, and reported initial evidence that higher real-time PM 2.5 exposure was negatively associated with cognitive performance as well as with socioeconomic metrics (higher parental education and income).…”

“…Despite these indicators that historic marginalization, SES, and pollution exposure interact with one another to predict all‐cause mortality, their cumulative risk on other specific health consequences, such as neurocognitive outcomes, remains to be fully examined. A recent pilot study (Medrano et al., 2022) provides an important step in this direction by investigating cognitive performance as a function of real‐time measured personal exposure to PM 2.5 (measured using personal monitoring devices carried by participants for a 3‐day period) and zip code‐aggregated social vulnerability indices, and reported initial evidence that higher real‐time PM 2.5 exposure was negatively associated with cognitive performance as well as with socioeconomic metrics (higher parental education and income). Medrano et al.’s study was limited by use of a relatively small convenience sample ( N = 30 families with a child between the ages of 7 and 11 years old) and a constrained timeline; additional studies with larger, more diverse samples measured over longer periods of time will be beneficial in disentangling the cumulative impacts of air pollution and social vulnerability on neurocognitive outcomes.…”

Computer Aided Classification of X-ray Images from Pediatric Pneumonia Subjects Collected in Developing Countries

“…This algorithm is based on iterative sets of growth levels to minimize energy, determined by weighted values corresponding to the sum of magnitude differences from the mean outside the region, the sum of the differences from the mean in the segmented region, and a term that depends on the length of the boundary of the segmented region. The energy function of Chan-Vese (CV) is presented in Equation (5).…”

“…Long-term exposure to pollution is stated to be more dangerous than smoking [4]. Further, pollution to children can impact their cognitive and neurodevelopment, asthma, impaired lung function [5]. The World Health Organization (WHO) stated that every day, around 93% of children under fifteen years of age inhale polluted air that is dangerous for their health [6].…”

The Impact of Air Pollution on Neurocognitive Development: Adverse Effects and Health Disparities

“…Despite these indicators that historic marginalization, SES, and pollution exposure interact with one another to predict all-cause mortality, their cumulative risk on other specific health consequences, such as neurocognitive outcomes, remains to be fully examined. A recent pilot study (Medrano et al, 2022) provides an important step in this direction by investigating cognitive performance as a function of real-time measured personal exposure to PM2.5 and zip code-aggregated Social Vulnerability indices, and reported initial evidence that higher real-time PM2.5 exposure was negatively associated with cognitive performance as well as negatively associated with socioeconomic metrics (higher parental education and income).…”