Breathe with care!

Recent research has shown that air pollution and air quality below the designated air quality standards have caused difference in children’s brains.

The air we are breathing is getting toxic with every passing day. Industrial fumes to car smoke the air the much more now than just oxygen and carbon dioxide. This deteriorating air quality has led to rise in many lung related illnesses from asthma to recurrent lower respiratory tract infection to lung cancer. Recently research has shown that air pollution and air quality below the designated air quality standards have caused difference in children’s brains. These differences were seen in terms of volume of white matter that is associated with cognitive function, connections in brain and early markers for Alzheimer’s disease.¹

This is mainly due to children and teenagers spending more time outdoors causing more absorption of contaminants relative to their body weight than adults. Also, the children brain and body are still developing making them more vulnerable to the toxic effects of the contaminants.

An article was published in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience journal on a study “Clearing the Air: A systematic review of studies on air pollution and childhood brain outcome to mobilize policy change” which highlighted the changes seen in children’s brain exposed to air pollution versus children who were living in places with good air quality levels. The study used various methods to measure the brain differences ranging from magnetic resonance imaging to changes in chemical compounds that help in brain function and some studies evaluated tumour's in brain or central nervous system. Many studies were done on adults to understand the effects of air pollution on human brain but they could not be used to assume outcome for children since they have a developing brain. To establish causal link between effects of air pollution and developing brain of children experimental research was done on animals. This research showed that pollution air contaminants does alter white matter volume in children and differences in markers for Alzheimer’s disease was also seen.

The brain development gets affected in utero due to maternal exposure to air pollution which causes maternal inflammation, oxidative stress and endocrine disruption that affects placental development and transport of oxygen and nutrients to the fetus.² After birth the air pollutants via inhalation reach the lungs and from lungs to the brain via bloodstream.³ During the development period pollutants inhaled can induce endocrine disruption, inflammation and oxidative stress in both central and peripheral nervous system increasing the permeability of pollutants across the blood brain barrier and causing harmful effects.⁴

Air purifiers use in school and at home has been considered as one of the policy recommendations to help control the effects of air pollution.¹ Further research to mitigate the effects of pollutants on brain development is need of the hour.

References:

1. Anna M. Parenteau et al, Clearing the air: A systematic review of studies on air pollution and childhood brain outcomes to mobilize policy change, Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2024.101436
   
   
2. Ha S. Air pollution and neurological development in children. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology. 2021 Apr;63(4):374-81.
   
   
3. Calderón-Garcidueñas L, Calderón-Garcidueñas A, Torres-Jardón R, Avila-Ramírez J, Kulesza RJ, Angiulli AD. Air pollution and your brain: what do you need to know right now. Primary health care research & development. 2015 Jul;16(4):329-45.
   
   
4. Costa LG, Cole TB, Dao K, Chang YC, Coburn J, Garrick JM. Effects of air pollution on the nervous system and its possible role in neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders. Pharmacology & therapeutics. 2020 Jun 1;210:107523.