Association between early life exposure to air pollution and working memory and attention

Abstract

Background: Although previous studies have reported negative associations between exposure to air pollution and cognition, studies of the effects of prenatal and postnatal exposures in early childhood have been limited. Objectives: We sought to assess the role exposure to fine particulate matter ([Formula: see text]) during different prenatal and postnatal windows may play in children's cognitive development at school age. Methods: Within the Brain Development and Air Pollution Ultrafine Particles in School Children (BREATHE) Project, we estimated residential [Formula: see text] exposures by land use regression for the prenatal period and first seven postnatal years of 2,221 children from Barcelona, Spain. The participants ([Formula: see text]) completed computerized tests assessing working memory, attentiveness, and conflict network during four visits in 2012–2013. We used linear mixed effects and distributed lag models to assess the period of exposure to [Formula: see text] in association with cognitive development. Results: Inverse associations were identified between [Formula: see text] exposure during the fifth and sixth postnatal years and working memory, with boys showing much higher vulnerability. Regarding attention functions, exposure to higher [Formula: see text] levels during the prenatal period and from the fourth postnatal year were associated with a reduction in conflict network performance, though we found no association with attentiveness. The overall estimated cumulative effect of a [Formula: see text] increase in [Formula: see text] resulted in a reduction in the working memory [Formula: see text] score of [Formula: see text] [95% confidence interval (CI): [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]] points and an increase in the conflict attentional network of 11.31 (95% CI: 6.05, 16.57) milliseconds, indicating a poorer performance. Conclusions: Early life exposure to [Formula: see text] was associated with a reduction in fundamental cognitive abilities, including working memory and conflict attentional network. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP3169.

The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC-Advanced Grant) under grant agreement number 268479—the BREATHE project. We are grateful to A. Dalmau-Bueno for his help in estimating exposure to air pollution. We thank all the families participating in the study and particularly to the schools. P.D. is funded by a Juan de la Cierva fellowship (JCI-2011-09937) awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation.