ArticleEnvironmental health perspectives2019
Association between Early Life Exposure to Air Pollution and Working Memory and Attention.
Article in Environmental health perspectives, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 51 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
51 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 140 citations in OpenAlex.
- Determinants and relationships of climate change, climate change hazards, mental health, and well-being: a systematic review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Association of prenatal and postnatal exposure to air pollution with clinically diagnosed attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a systematic review.Frontiers in public health · 2024Pooled it
- Prenatal Exposure to Air Pollutants and Attentional Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Development in Children: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Pooled it
- Impact of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure on cognitive function and neurodegeneration in humans: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2022Pooled it
- Effects of Cooking with Liquefied Petroleum Gas or Biomass Fuels on Neurodevelopmental Outcomes in Preschool-Age Children Living in Puno, Peru.Environmental health perspectives · 2025Trial
- Article
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- Modality Matters: Intact and Enhanced Memory Skills in Children From High-Stress Environments.Cognitive science · 2026Article
- Association between early life constituent-specific PMBMC medicine · 2026Article
- Effects of combined prenatal exposure to air pollution and maternal stress on social behavior and oxytocin and vasopressin systems in male and female mice.Journal of neuroendocrinology · 2026Article
- Evaluating air cleaner effectiveness in schools: a comprehensive review and protocol of a cluster-randomized controlled trial of physicochemical and microbial markers.Frontiers in public health · 2026Review
- Effects of combined prenatal exposure to air pollution and maternal stress on social behavior and oxytocin and vasopressin systems in male and female mice.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Key Messages of the Iodine Deficiency Working Group (AKJ): Maternal Hypothyroxinemia Due to Iodine Deficiency and Endocrine Disruptors as Risks for Child Neurocognitive Development.Geburtshilfe und Frauenheilkunde · 2025Article
- The influence of meteorological factors and air pollution on acute cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events in Western Guizhou.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Association between Prenatal Particulate Matter Exposure and Neuropsychiatric Disorders Development.Biomolecules & therapeutics · 2025Review
- Neighborhood Characteristics and Mental Health From Childhood to Adolescence.JAMA network open · 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
- Acute particulate matter exposure diminishes executive cognitive functioning after four hours regardless of inhalation pathway.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Psychological repercussions of PM air pollution in human aging: a comprehensive review of urban and rural environments.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Review
- Prenatal PMEnvironment & health (Washington, D.C.) · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAlthough 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.
objectivesWe 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.
methodsWithin 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.
resultsInverse 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.
conclusionsEarly 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.
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