Air pollution may have a negative effect on the brain development and behavior of adolescents, according to a study published in December in the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology.
Over a nine-year period, researchers examined the effect of long-term exposure to fine air pollution particles known as particulate matter 2.5 among nearly 700 9- to 18-year-olds in urban neighborhoods in the greater Los Angeles area. Such particulate matter, which is 2.5 micrometers and smaller, can be damaging to the lungs, brain and heart, according to lead study author Diana Younan, PhD, MPH, a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine.
Previous studies have shown a link between children’s exposure to lead and complications with brain development. Now a small but emerging body of research suggests a similar effect resulting from exposure to air pollutants, Younan said. She noted that the harms of air pollution are most commonly associated with the lungs, but rarely with the brain, and more research is needed to underscore the link between air pollution and brain damage.
Parents of the participants completed a child behavior checklist every few years that asked them whether their children had engaged in 13 delinquent acts, including lying and cheating, truancy, stealing, vandalism, arson and substance misuse.
Researchers measured daily air pollution in Southern California from 2000 to 2014 and estimated the ambient particulate matter levels surrounding participants’ residential addresses. They found that about three-quarters of participants were exposed to ambient air pollution exceeding federal levels, with higher air pollution estimated near freeways and areas with little greenspace.
Participants who were female, ethnic or racial minorities, from lower socio-economic backgrounds or living in distressed neighborhoods were exposed to higher levels of particulate matter than their counterparts, researchers found.
The study also identified an increase in delinquent behavior among the participants during adolescence. Such behavior was compounded by problems at home, including poor parent-child relationships, living with mothers who were depressed and living with parents experiencing high levels of stress. Participants who were male, black or from lower socio-economic backgrounds engaged in more delinquent behavior than their counterparts. Delinquency also increased with poor relationships between children and parents, higher parental stress and depressive symptoms among mothers.
“What we believe is happening is when these kids are in this stressful environment and it goes on for too long, they become in a chronic state of stress (that) wreaks havoc on body,” making them more susceptible to the negative effects of air pollution, Younan told The Nation’s Health.
A healthy home environment in which children experience little stress could help to counteract the damage from exposure to air pollution, she said.
For more information, visit https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10802-017-0367-5.
- Copyright The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association
