Air Pollution Linked to Behavioral & Mental Disorders

Air pollution has been associated with adverse neurological and behavioral health effects in children and adults, with recently published studies linking air pollutant exposure to adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes.  Cory-Slechta, from the University of Rochester (New York, USA), and colleagues exposed mice to levels of air pollution typically found in mid-sized US cities during rush hour. The exposures were conducted during the first two weeks after birth, a critical time in the brain’s development. The mice were exposed to polluted air for four hours each day for two four-day periods.  In one group of mice, the brains were examined 24 hours after the final pollution exposure. In all of those mice, inflammation was rampant throughout the brain, and the lateral ventricles—chambers on each side of the brain that contain cerebrospinal fluid—were enlarged two-to-three times their normal size.  The problems were also observed in a second group of mice 40 days after exposure and in another group 270 days after exposure, indicating that the damage to the brain was permanent. Brains of mice in all three groups also had elevated levels of glutamate, a neurotransmitter, which is also seen in humans with autism and schizophrenia.   The study authors warn that: “Our findings suggest alteration of developmentally important neurochemicals and lateral ventricle dilation may be mechanistically related to observations linking ambient air pollutant exposure and adverse neurological/neurodevelopmental outcome in humans.”