Air Pollution May Prompt Cognitive Decline

Mounting scientific evidence suggests a variety of adverse health effects of air pollution – particularly, fine particulate matter air pollution (PM2.5): particles 2.5 microns or smaller that can travel deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream.  Jennifer A. Ailshire, from the University of Southern California (USC; California, USA), and colleagues assessed data on 790 non-Hispanic black and white men and women ages 55 and older, enrolled in Americans’ Changing Lives Study.  Cognitive function was measured by math and memory tests and participants got a score based on the number of cognitive errors they made. Air pollution levels for each participant’s neighborhood were calculated using fine particulate levels reported by the U.S. EPA’s Air Quality System. The researchers found the average PM2.5 concentrations in the study participants’ environments were 13.8 micrograms per cubic meter, which is above the EPA’s air quality standard of 12 micrograms per cubic meter.  The team then compared the cognitive error scores to pollution levels and found that people living in high pollution areas, with 15 micrograms per cubic meter or more of PM2.5 had error scores one and a half times those of the participants who lived in low pollution areas with no more than 5 micrograms per cubic meter.  Warning that: “This study adds to a growing body of research demonstrating the importance of air pollution to cognitive function in older adults,” the study authors urge for: “Improvements to air quality may be an important mechanism for reducing age-related cognitive decline.”