Prenatal exposure to air pollution is associated with childhood inhibitory control and adolescent academic achievement

Margolis, Amy; Ramphal, Bruce; Pagliaccio, David; Banker, Sarah; Selmanovic, Ena; Thomas, Lauren; Factor-Litvak, Pam; Perera, Frederica P.; Peterson, Bradley S.; Rundle, Andrew; Herbstman, Julie B.; Goldsmith, Jeff; Rauh, Virginia

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2021.111570

Cited by 20 publications

(16 citation statements)

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“…In conclusion, our findings suggest that children exposed to neurotoxicants such as air pollution and material hardship could manifest word reading problems by school-age. This environmentally associated phenotype of reading problems may represent the beginning of a negative cascade of events ultimately leading to altered reading comprehension skills in adolescence, as we have shown in prior work (Margolis et al, 2021). Structural factors that marginalize people of color into living in lower income neighborhoods with higher levels of toxic chemical exposures suggest a specific pathway by which academic disparities in children of color may arise, and some of these conditions are difficult to address, requiring a commitment to geopolitical change.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 68%

“…These prior studies relied on area-level models to estimate exposure to air pollution rather than personalized exposure data or individually measured academic achievement tests. We recently reported that higher personal exposure to prenatal PAH exposure was associated with poorer performance on an individually administered measure of reading achievement in adolescence (Margolis et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For these children, environmental factors appear to explain a larger portion of the variance in reading problems ( Peterson and Pennington, 2015 ; Wodtke and Parbst, 2017 ). Although many household-level factors impacting reading skill acquisition have been examined, the role of the chemical environment, i.e., exposure to neurotoxicants, has been largely overlooked in research assessing reading problems ( Margolis et al, 2020a ; Margolis et al, 2021 ). Further, children living in the context of economic disadvantage are disproportionally at risk for such exposures given differential situating of the sources of toxic chemical exposures near lower income neighborhoods ( Evans, 2004 ; Miranda et al, 2011 ; Bell and Ebisu, 2012 ; Hajat et al, 2015 ; Mikati et al, 2018 ; Jbaily et al, 2022 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of prenatal polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and childhood material hardship on reading achievement in school-age children: A preliminary study

et al. 2023

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BackgroundChildren from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds are at elevated risk for reading problems. They are also likely to live in neighborhoods with high levels of air pollution and to experience material hardship. Despite these risk factors, the links between prenatal chemical exposures, socioeconomic adversities, and reading problems in youth from disadvantaged backgrounds remain understudied. Here we examine associations between prenatal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), a common air pollutant, and reading skills, and determine if this relationship is exacerbated by material hardship among Black and/or Latinx children who have been followed as part of a longitudinal urban birth cohort.MethodsMothers and their children, who were participants in a prospective birth cohort followed by the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health, were recruited for the current study. Personal prenatal PAH exposure was measured during the third-trimester of pregnancy using a personal air monitoring backpack. Mothers reported their level of material hardship when their child was age 5 and children completed measures of pseudoword and word reading [Woodcock Johnson III Tests of Achievement (WJ-III) Basic Reading Index] at age 7. We used multiple linear regression to examine the effects of the interaction between prenatal PAH and material hardship on Basic Reading Index, controlling for ethnicity/race, sex, birthweight, presence of a smoker in the home (prenatal), and maternal education (prenatal) (N = 53).ResultsA prenatal PAH × material hardship interaction significantly associated with WJ-III Basic Reading Index scores at age 7 (β = −0.347, t(44) = −2.197, p = 0.033). Exploratory analyses suggested that this effect was driven by untimed pseudoword decoding (WJ-III Word Attack: β = −0.391, t(44) = −2.550, p = 0.014).ConclusionEnvironmental chemical exposures can be particularly toxic during the prenatal period when the fetal brain undergoes rapid development, making it uniquely vulnerable to chemical perturbations. These data highlight the interactive effects of environmental neurotoxicants and unmet basic needs on children’s acquisition of reading skill, specifically phonemic processing. Such findings identify potentially modifiable environmental risk factors implicated in reading problems in children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 68%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of prenatal polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and childhood material hardship on reading achievement in school-age children: A preliminary study

et al. 2023

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“…Increased exposure to PM 2.5 and other pollutants have been associated with neurological effects ( Payne-Sturges et al, 2019 ), lower IQ ( Porta et al, 2016 ), developmental disorders, such as autism ( Talbott et al, 2015 ), and reduced white and gray matter in the brain ( Mortamais et al, 2019 ; Beckwith et al, 2020 ; Cserbik et al, 2020 ). Importantly, PM 2.5 has been associated with poorer performance on specific cognitive tests, such as working memory ( Alvarez-Pedrerol et al, 2017 ; Forns et al, 2017 ; Rivas et al, 2019 ; Gui et al, 2020 ) and inhibitory control ( Gui et al, 2020 ; Margolis et al, 2021 ), as well as academic assessments ( Shier et al, 2019 ; Mullen et al, 2020 ). The negative impact of air pollution on cognitive functions is well-documented across the lifespan, including infancy, early and middle childhood, adolescence, and adulthood ( Lertxundi et al, 2015 ; Zhang et al, 2018 ; Margolis et al, 2021 ; Miller et al, 2021 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Importantly, PM 2.5 has been associated with poorer performance on specific cognitive tests, such as working memory ( Alvarez-Pedrerol et al, 2017 ; Forns et al, 2017 ; Rivas et al, 2019 ; Gui et al, 2020 ) and inhibitory control ( Gui et al, 2020 ; Margolis et al, 2021 ), as well as academic assessments ( Shier et al, 2019 ; Mullen et al, 2020 ). The negative impact of air pollution on cognitive functions is well-documented across the lifespan, including infancy, early and middle childhood, adolescence, and adulthood ( Lertxundi et al, 2015 ; Zhang et al, 2018 ; Margolis et al, 2021 ; Miller et al, 2021 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bridging the environment and neurodevelopment for children’s health: Associations between real-time air pollutant exposures and cognitive outcomes

Medrano

Crnosija²,

Prather³

et al. 2022

Front. Psychol.

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Research suggests that children’s exposure to pollutants may impact their neurocognitive development. While researchers have found associations between air pollutants and cognitive development, these associations remain underspecified. Further, these exposures occur in the context of the built environment and may be exacerbated by local social vulnerability; in this context, individuals may experience a suite of socioenvironmental stressors that lead to increased cumulative risk exposure. In this pilot study, we tested whether real-time-measured personal exposure to PM2.5 relates to children’s executive function and mathematical skills, outcomes that may predict later mathematical performance, general academic performance and even employment outcomes. We recruited 30 families to participate in two rounds in Winter 2020 and Summer 2021. We collected children’s demographic data, as well as data about their living environment. In each round, children carried a small device that collected real-time ambient air pollution data for 3 days; parents logged their children’s activities each day. On the last day, children completed cognitive assessments indexing their working memory (n-back), inhibitory control (Go/No-Go), nonsymbolic math skills (dot comparison), and arithmetic skills (equation verification). Overall, 29 participants had pollutant readings from both rounds, and 21 had a full dataset. Nonparametric statistical analysis revealed no significant differences in ambient air pollution and cognitive performance over time, Spearman’s rho correlation assessment found that PM2.5 was not significantly correlated with cognitive outcomes in R1 and R2. However, the correlations suggested that an increase in PM2.5 was associated with worse working memory, inhibitory control, nonsymbolic skills, and arithmetic skills, at least in R1. We used each participant’s zip code-aggregated Social Vulnerability Index, which range from 0 to 1, with higher numbers indicating more social vulnerability. Wilcoxon Rank-Sum tests indicated that participants living in higher SVI zip codes (≥0.70; n = 15) were not significantly different from those living in lower SVI zip codes (<0.70; n = 14), in terms of their PM2.5 exposures and cognitive performance in each round. We also found that socioeconomic characteristics mattered, such that children whose parent (s) had at least a Master’s degree or earned more than $100,000 a year had lower PM2.5 exposures than children in the other end.

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Prenatal Exposure to Air Pollution and Early-Life Stress Effects on Hippocampal Subregional Volumes and Associations With Visuospatial Reasoning

Margolis

Cohen

Ramphal

et al. 2022

Biological Psychiatry Global Open Science

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Prenatal exposure to air pollution is associated with childhood inhibitory control and adolescent academic achievement

Cited by 20 publications

References 42 publications

Effects of prenatal polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and childhood material hardship on reading achievement in school-age children: A preliminary study

Effects of prenatal polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and childhood material hardship on reading achievement in school-age children: A preliminary study

Bridging the environment and neurodevelopment for children’s health: Associations between real-time air pollutant exposures and cognitive outcomes

Prenatal Exposure to Air Pollution and Early-Life Stress Effects on Hippocampal Subregional Volumes and Associations With Visuospatial Reasoning

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