The association of exposure to ambient air pollution and childhood cognitive development
Year: 2026
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Air pollution may have adverse impacts on children’s cognitive development. This PhD project aimed to extend existing evidence on the effects of air pollution exposure on children’s cognitive function through a literature review and three epidemiological analyses.Study 1 examined whether exposure to PM10 from different sources across different periods during pregnancy (first, second, third trimester, and whole pregnancy) and infancy (0–6 and 0–12 months) was associated with both global and cognitive development at 18 months of age using a subsample of 997 children in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) cohort, UK. Unexpected positive associations were observed between higher postnatal PM10 exposure and global development, and between third-trimester exposure and cognitive development.Study 2 assessed associations between preconception and early pregnancy PM2.5 and NO2 exposure and neurodevelopment at 12 months of age in 946 infants from the Complex Lipids in Mothers and Babies (CLIMB) prospective cohort in Chongqing, China. Both PM2.5 and NO2 exposures during the 90 days before conception were associated with lower motor development test scores.Study 3 investigated whether source-specific PM10, NO2, and PM2.5 during early and later childhood (0–2, 2–4, and 4–8 years) were associated with intelligence quotient (IQ) scores at 8.5 years of age in a subsample of 6,829 children in the ALSPAC cohort. A small negative association was found between PM2.5 exposure at age 2–4 years and lower IQ. Effect estimates were stronger in subgroups of children whose mothers had a lower education level and higher noise exposure.This project found evidence that exposure to traffic-related air pollution may affect children's neurodevelopment and highlights how socioeconomic disadvantage and noise exposure may modify these effects. These findings emphasise the need to protect children from environmental pollution.
Source: University of Leicester
Author: Yingxin Chen
Language: English
Subfield: Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7212223226