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Pollution may affect thinking skills, says study
Why it is in news?
- A large study in China suggests a link between air pollution and negative effects on people’s language and math skills.
- The link between pollution and respiratory diseases is well known, and most experts now believe that small particulates may also raise the risk for strokes and heart attacks.
- Whether this form of air pollution impairs cognition is not yet certain, but several studies have hinted at a connection.
- The latest study, by researchers based in China and the U.S., analysed how long-term exposure to air pollution affected performance on nationwide math and word-recognition tests by more than 25,000 people across 162 Chinese counties.
Weather, pollution data
- The authors based their findings on models they built that combined weather and pollution data from specific locations in China, where people had taken nationwide tests in 2010 and 2014, as well as the test scores themselves.
- Their analysis tried to document how short and long-term pollution exposure might have affected the scores — and, by extension, the test-takers’ brains.
- The authors found that the cognitive impact of cumulative exposure among the test takers was especially pronounced among older men, and that the results were troubling in part because cognitive decline and impairment are risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.
- The study “further amplifies the need to tackle air pollution now to protect the health of particularly the young and elderly populations,”
- Atmospheric pollution has long been recognised as a significant threat to global public health.
- A 2014 study found that traffic-related pollution in greater London was associated with declining cognitive functions over time among study participants, who had an average age of 66.
- The study used test scores from the 2010 and 2014 editions of China Family Panel Studies, an interview-based exam given nationwide, as well as air-quality data from readings of three types of pollutants: sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter that is between 2.5 and 10 micrometers in diameter, called PM10.
Source
The Hindu