Prenatal Exposure to Air Pollutants Linked to Cognitive, Behavioral Impairment

A recent study demonstrates a strong relationship between prenatal polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) exposure and long-term brain disturbances in information processing and behavioral control. Researchers from the Institute for the Developing Mind at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) and Columbia University’s Center for Children’s Environmental Health have published their findings in JAMA Psychiatry regarding common emissions from heating elements, hazardous waste, tobacco use and cooking and their effects on unborn children. PAH has been found to easily pass through the placenta directly; earlier animal studies concluded that long-term development was hindered by excessive exposure to pollutants before birth. Researchers expanded this theory by using MRI to track the brain development of young children after cataloguing their prenatal pollutant exposure. “This is the largest MRI study to date of how early life exposure to air pollutants, specifically PAH, affect the developing mind,” said the author. “Our findings suggest that PAH are contributors to ADHD and other behavioral problems, due to the pollutants’ disruptive effects on early brain development.” To learn more about this study, click here.