Beginning in the late 1990s, air pollution declined in New York City following the implementation of clean air and climate policies.
Beginning in the late 1990s, air pollution declined in New York City following the implementation of clean air and climate policies. According to new research by scientists at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, as prenatal exposures to air pollution declined, subsequent measures of children’s cognitive development improved. The findings are published in the journal Environmental Health(link is external and opens in a new window).
The study is based on data collected on more than 1,000 mother-child pairs enrolled in long-term studies at the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health (CCCEH) between 1998 and 2020. It is the first to evaluate the relationship between declining levels of prenatal exposure to air pollutants attributed to the enactment of clean air and climate policies and measures of cognitive development in children sequentially enrolled over a 20-year period.
The researchers used data on prenatal exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from successive longitudinal cohort studies. PM2.5 and NO2 were available in the first two cohorts (1998-2016); PAH were monitored in three cohorts (1998-2020). Children were assessed for cognitive development at ages 1, 2, and 3 using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, which provided Mental Development Index (MDI) scores.
Read More: Columbia University
