A new study from the University of Utah, highlighted in a Tribune article, demonstrates even modest increases in a pregnant mother’s prenatal ozone exposure significantly increase the risk of her child having an intellectual disability. As disturbing as that is, the study should be looked at in the context of dozens of other studies showing prenatal ozone and particulate matter pollution (PM) are associated with increased risk for neurodevelopmental disorders like autism and attention deficit. But air pollution is universally toxic to all brain functions. Instead of the common term of “brain fog,” Utahns should be thinking more in terms of battling “brain smog.”
Ground level ozone is increasing globally in large part because of rising atmospheric temperatures from the climate crisis. But Utah children are at particular risk. Because of the relatively high altitude of most of the state’s residential areas, Utah school children have a correspondingly high respiratory rate, increasing their inhalation of pollution. The altitude also increases the amount of ultraviolet light compared to sea level, which contributes to higher ozone levels even in rural parts of the state. Photochemical ozone formation is further stimulated by the solar reflectivity of the expanding Great Salt Lake dry lakebed and increased heat from the loss of the lake cooling effect.
Now add this new research to what is already known. Microscopic particles from fossil fuel combustion (called “magnetites” because their metal composition responds to magnetic fields) are embedded in the brains of virtually everyone, from childhood on, at the rate of “millions per gram of brain tissue.” In some patients magnetites were responsible for 1/100th of the weight of the brain. The particles cross the placenta and likely start contaminating the brain well before birth.
Both PM and ozone can narrow the vast network of the body’s small arteries. When this affects the placenta of a pregnant mother, it can impair fetal organ formation. Neuroimaging has documented abnormal brain anatomy in children and adolescents whose mothers were exposed to more air pollution during or even before the pregnancy. The effect includes loss of overall brain volume, white matter in particular. The microscopic evidence of adult neurodegenerative diseases, are routinely found in the brains of children living with more air pollution, and epidemiologic studies show pollution is a major contributor to Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), multiple mental illnesses and suicide risk.
Air pollution impairs acute brain function throughout the age spectrum. Within 30 minutes of inhaling diesel exhaust, at levels comparable to freeway traffic or riding in school buses, brains of healthy volunteers show inflammation and a cortical stress response revealed in EEG tracings. The impact lingers long after exposure ends. In real-life situations, young students may arrive at school already with a significant learning and behavioral disadvantage because that brain inflammation that may last all day.
Clinical studies show that pollution inhaled by school children while walking to school impairs their working memory. In a study of Salt Lake County third grade students, math and language test scores fell throughout the county with more frequent PM2.5 spikes. Air pollution has been found in both developing and developed countries to impair student academic performance across the board, and long term exposure significantly decreases their IQ. The importance of clean air for learning and brain development was the primary driver behind Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment’s two-year campaign to place air purifiers in all Utah schools and day care centers.
But air pollution is not just hurting school children. Research suggests it impairs cognition and decision making for adults, like baseball umpires and stock traders. Research also suggests it makes people more likely to vote against incumbents and increases the rates of divorce. Because air pollution makes people more aggressive and impairs judgement, it should come as no surprise that air pollution increases the rate of fatal traffic accidents. At “moderate and unhealthy” air pollution levels there is a “staggering” increase in construction site accidents causing injuries and fatalities. Worker productivity across multiple sectors — agriculture, manufacturing, and service occupations — decreases with air pollution. Multiple studies have found an association between air pollution and unethical behavior and crime, especially violent crime.
Studies like these force the conclusion that the impact of air pollution on the brain spares virtually no one, even if for many people the harm is only subtle or subclinical, i.e. a few less IQ points, a few more forgotten names or more frequent bad moods. Not surprisingly, there is an inverse relationship between overall happiness and air pollution.
How air pollution harms the brain has far reaching, long-term implications for the well-being of society in general. Utah already has multiple unique sources of air pollution and therefore higher risks. This study should prompt even more urgency from our lawmakers to start improving the air we breathe, starting with a serious plan to save Great Salt Lake.
(Brian Moench)
Dr. Brian Moench is the author of the non-fiction book on environmental neurotoxins, “The Great Brain Robbery: Why Women Have Become Smarter Than Men. Science With an Attitude.” He is the president of Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment.
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