Exposure to multiple ambient air pollutants changes white matter microstructure during early adolescence with sex-specific differences
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Ambient air pollution is ubiquitous, yet questions remain as to how it might impact the developing brain. Large changes occur in the brain’s white matter (WM) microstructure across adolescence, with noticeable differences in WM integrity in male and female youth. Here we report sex-stratified effects of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and ozone (O3) on longitudinal patterns of WM microstructure from 9-13 years-old in 8,182 (49% female) participants using restriction spectrum imaging. After adjusting for key sociodemographic factors, multi-pollutant, sex-stratified models showed that one-year annual exposure to PM2.5 and NO2 was associated with higher, while O3 was associated with lower, intracellular diffusion at age 9. All three pollutants also affected trajectories of WM maturation from 9-13 years-old, with some sex-specific differences in the number and anatomical locations of tracts showing altered trajectories of intracellular diffusion. Concentrations were well-below current U.S. standards, suggesting exposure to these criteria pollutants during adolescence may have long-term consequences on brain development.
Source: Communications Medicine
Language: English
Subfield: Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,490
Funders: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Awards: G1435456691, Urban air pollution and neurobehavioral trajectories in the ABCD study, G3421120843, Harvard Chan School NIEHS Center for Environmental Health, G6084946529, G6954369743, The role of air pollution in emotional neurodevelopment and risk for psychiatric disorders, 9/21 ABCD-USA CONSORTIUM: RESEARCH PROJECT SITE AT U MICHIGAN, 3/21 ABCD-USA CONSORTIUM: RESEARCH PROJECT SITE AT U MINNESOTA, 4/21 ABCD-USA CONSORTIUM: RESEARCH PROJECT SITE AT FIU, 7/21 ABCD-USA CONSORTIUM: RESEARCH PROJECT SITE AT YALE, Environmental Exposures, Host Factors and Human Disease, 8/21 ABCD-USA CONSORTIUM: RESEARCH PROJECT SITE AT CHLA, ABCD-USA Consortium: Coordinating Center, 6/21 ABCD-USA CONSORTIUM: RESEARCH PROJECT SITE AT OHSU, 10/21 ABCD-USA CONSORTIUM: RESEARCH PROJECT SITE AT SRI, 12/21 ABCD-USA CONSORTIUM: RESEARCH PROJECT SITE AT U PITTSBURGH, 1/21 ABCD-USA CONSORTIUM: RESEARCH PROJECT SITE AT U UTAH, ABCD-USA Consortium: Data Analysis, Informatics and Resource Center, 5/21 ABCD-USA Consortium: Research Project Site at UC San Diego, 2/21 ABCD-USA CONSORTIUM: RESEARCH PROJECT SITE AT UMB, G90824092
OpenAlex ID: W4401207867