ArticlePloS one2014
Molecular and neurodevelopmental benefits to children of closure of a coal burning power plant in China.
Article in PloS one, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 59 citations in OpenAlex.
- Impact of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure on cognitive function and neurodegeneration in humans: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2022Pooled it
- Impact of Coal-fired Power Plant Emissions on Children's Health: A Systematic Review of the Epidemiological Literature.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Pooled it
- Externalizing behaviors in children living near coal-fired power plants.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Annual Research Review: Exposure to environmental chemicals and psychosocial stress and the development of children's learning difficulties.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2025Review
- Prenatal polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure and neurodevelopment among children in Puerto Rico.Chemosphere · 2024Article
- Prenatal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and executive functions at school age: Results from a combined cohort study.International journal of hygiene and environmental health · 2024Article
- The Role of Environmental Chemicals in the Etiology of Learning Difficulties: A Novel Theoretical Framework.Mind, brain and education : the official journal of the International Mind, Brain, and Education Society · 2023Article
- Prenatal exposure to air pollution and childhood internalizing problems: roles of shyness and anterior cingulate cortex activity.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2023Article
- Indoor coal ash and school and social competency among children aged 6-14 years.Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology · 2023Article
- Exposure to coal ash and depression in children aged 6-14 years old.Environmental research · 2022Article
- Prenatal Exposure to Air Pollution and Early-Life Stress Effects on Hippocampal Subregional Volumes and Associations With Visuospatial Reasoning.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2022Article
- Convergent neural correlates of prenatal exposure to air pollution and behavioral phenotypes of risk for internalizing and externalizing problems: Potential biological and cognitive pathways.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2022Review
- Maternal, neonatal and socio-economic factors associated with intellectual development among children from a coal mining region in Brazil.Environmental geochemistry and health · 2021Article
- Nail Samples of Children Living near Coal Ash Storage Facilities Suggest Fly Ash Exposure and Elevated Concentrations of Metal(loid)s.Environmental science & technology · 2021Article
- Maternal exposure to OEnvironmental science and pollution research international · 2021Article
- Prenatal air pollution exposure and neurodevelopment: A review and blueprint for a harmonized approach within ECHO.Environmental research · 2021Review
- Associations of the Behavioral Assessment and Research System (BARS) neurobehavioral outcomes with attention problems in children living near coal ash storage sites.Neurotoxicology · 2020Article
- Article
- Impact of maternal hypertensive disorders on offspring's neurodevelopment: a longitudinal prospective cohort study in China.Pediatric research · 2020Article
- Recruitment strategies and challenges: Lessons learned from a coal ash and children's health study.Research in nursing & health · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are major toxic air pollutants released during incomplete combustion of coal. PAH emissions are especially problematic in China because of their reliance on coal-powered energy. The prenatal period is a window of susceptibility to neurotoxicants. To determine the health benefits of reducing air pollution related to coal-burning, we compared molecular biomarkers of exposure and preclinical effects in umbilical cord blood to neurodevelopmental outcomes from two successive birth cohorts enrolled before and after a highly polluting, coal-fired power plant in Tongliang County, China had ceased operation. Women and their newborns in the two successive cohorts were enrolled at the time of delivery. We measured PAH-DNA adducts, a biomarker of PAH-exposure and DNA damage, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein involved in neuronal growth, in umbilical cord blood. At age two, children were tested using the Gesell Developmental Schedules (GDS). The two cohorts were compared with respect to levels of both biomarkers in cord blood as well as developmental quotient (DQ) scores across 5 domains. Lower levels of PAH-DNA adducts, higher concentrations of the mature BDNF protein (mBDNF) and higher DQ scores were seen in the 2005 cohort enrolled after closure of the power plant. In the two cohorts combined, PAH-DNA adducts were inversely associated with mBDNF as well as scores for motor (p = 0.05), adaptive (p = 0.022), and average (p = 0.014) DQ. BDNF levels were positively associated with motor (p = 0.018), social (p = 0.001), and average (p = 0.017) DQ scores. The findings indicate that the closure of a coal-burning plant resulted in the reduction of PAH-DNA adducts in newborns and increased mBDNF levels that in turn, were positively associated with neurocognitive development. They provide further evidence of the direct benefits to children's health as a result of the coal plant shut down, supporting clean energy and environmental policies in China and elsewhere.
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