AMSTERDAM (dpa-AFX) - A study, led by the non-profit research center Barcelona Institute for Global Health, found that exposure to air pollution during pregnancy and early childhood could have long lasting impacts on brain development.
The research involved over 4,000 participants from the Generation R Study in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The team followed the participants since birth and estimated the amount of exposure to 14 different air pollutants based on their locations.
The findings, published in Environmental Research, found that exposure to pollutants like PM 2.5 and nitrogen oxide severely affected the brain's white matter, which plays a crucial role in the nervous system.
'Even if the size of the effects were small, this can have a meaningful impact on a population scale,' said Monica Guxens, an ISGlobal researcher and co-author of the study.
Researchers noted that increased exposure to air pollution was linked to more than a five-month delay in the development of fractional anisotropy, a measure of how water molecules diffuse within the brain.
'We think that the lower fractional anisotropy is likely the result of changes in myelin, the protective sheath that forms around the nerves, rather than in the structure or packaging of the nerve fibers' said Michelle Kusters, ISGlobal researcher and first author of the study.
Also, certain pollutants caused changes in mean diffusivity, an indicator of the integrity of the brain's white matter, which naturally declines with age. However, the effects diminished in some children as they grew older, while it persisted in others.
Overall, the study highlighted the long-term effects of air pollution on neurodevelopment, emphasizing the need for stricter environmental regulations.
'Our study provides support to the need for more stringent European guidelines on air pollution, which are expected to be approved soon by the European Parliament,' concluded Guxens.
Copyright(c) 2024 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2024 AFX News
