Improoved air quality linkit tae better mental development in bairns, study finds

Mendin the air pollution is leadin tae brawer, smuiter bairns, accordin tae a new study frae Columbia University in New York.

For mair nor twa decades, Prof Frederica Perera and a team frae the Columbia Center for Childrens Environmental Health measured the air pollution exposure o pregnant wemen and the growth o their bairns in the needier communities o north Manhattan and the South Bronx. Ower 1,100 bairns war assessed whan they war ane, twa and three year auld.

Perera said: We testit cognitive processin includin memory and sensory perception, problem-solvin sic as matchin shapes, stackin blocks and communication, baith speech and language comprehension. In the early years o the study, we reportit significant associations atween prenatal exposure tae air pollution and neurodevelopment effects in the bairns. That was ill news.

Ower the course o the study, air pollution in central New York impruived massivlie. Clean-air legislation brocht doun some pollutants frae the citys yellow taxis by as muckle as 80%. Heivy fuel oils are bein phased oot for heatin the citys buildins and cleaner fuels are bein used in the citys buses. Fine particle pollution and levels o nitrogen dioxide halved atween 1998 and 2016.

Perera continued: Wad we see an association atween impruived air quality and impruived mental development scores in the bairns ower time?

The guid news is that the bairns scores impruived as the air pollution impruived. This was especially clear whan the bairns war twa and three year auld, and durin times o sharper faws in air pollution. The researchers war also able tae tak intae accoont the effects o ither factors that may hae affectit the bairns development. These includit rapid declines in the proportion o bairns wha lived wi a tobacco smoker, which faw frae 34% tae 18%, and increases in maternal education, wi a nine percentage-point increase in the proportion o mithers wha had successfullie graduatit frae high school.

The New York study adds tae the growin evidence that air pollution is a fixable problem and that health impruives whan air pollution is reduced.

In the UK, the introduction o Londons ultra-low emission zone was accompanied by an impruivement in bairns lung health and fewer bairns wi clinicallie impaired lung function. For adults in central London, there was a 3% reduction in annual trends for emergency admissions, includin an 8% reduction for hairt problems and a 6% reduction for breathin problems. A reduction o aboot 25% in GP visits for hairt and breathin problems followt the implementation o a clean-air zone in Bradford, West Yorkshire.

Despite the impruivements in New York, Perera emphasised: We canna conclude that contemporary levels o air pollution are safe for the neurodevelopment o aw bairns.

Action on air pollution requires bauld poleetical leadership. It is aften controversial and can be made intae a divisive poleetical issue, but it can work. Perera said: We need mair studies sic as oors tae increase public awareness o the value o clean air and climate policies and motivate policymakers.

A recent report by the UN Environment programme foond that integrated action on air pollution and climate change emissions maks economic sense tae, wi an average return o $15 in economic benefits for every $1 investit.