Inhaled air pollution, especially in the first five years of life, is associated with structural changes in the brain during pre-adolescence. According to a study by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) published this Friday in the journal ‘Environmental Pollution’.
The study of more than 3,500 children is the first to take into account exposure to pollution from conception to the first 8 and a half years of life. the greatest changes occur the greater the contamination received during the first five years of life.
As Anne-Claire Binter, a researcher at ISGlobal, a center sponsored by the La Caixa Foundation, explains, breathing polluted air as a child affects the brain’s structural connectivity; different regions of the brain.
Researchers measure the brain’s structural connectivity by examining the microstructure of white matter, an indicator of typical brain development. An abnormal white matter microstructure has been associated with psychiatric disorders (for example, depressive symptoms, anxiety or autism spectrum disorders).
In addition to the relationship between air pollution and structural brain connectivity, the study also He found a link between specific exposure to PM2.5 particles (those found in urban smoke) and the volume of the brain structure known as the putamen.It is involved in motor function and learning processes, among other functions.
The study observed that the more exposure to PM2.5, especially in the first two years of life, the larger the putamen volume.
“A larger putamen has been associated with certain psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorders, and obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders.” determined Binter.
“The study is new because it identifies periods of sensitivity to air pollution. While previous studies have investigated trimesters of pregnancy or childhood years, we used a finer time scale to analyze exposure, analyzing data month by month. In this way, we were on a monthly basis, 8 weeks before conception. They worked on atmospheric pollution for up to 5 years,” he said.
The study was based on a large cohort: 3,515 boys and girls from the Generation R Study in Rotterdam (Netherlands).
Nitrogen and microparticles
To find out what air pollution boys and girls are exposed to, daily levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and suspended particles (PM2.5) were estimated They have been recorded where they live up to 8.5 years from fertilization.
When they were 9 to 12 years old, their brains were imaged using MRI and various brain volumes and structural connectivity were calculated.
The NO2 and PM2.5 levels recorded in the study exceeded the current recommendations of the World Health Organization. (10 µg/m3 and 5 µg/m3, respectively), but they met European Union regulations where researchers suggested that air pollution could affect brain development at levels below current air quality standards.
“One of the biggest results of the study is The brain is particularly vulnerable to air pollution, not only during pregnancy, as previous studies have indicated, but also during childhood.“, underlined Binter.
“We need to keep repeating the measurements on these children to try to understand the possible long-term effects of exposure to air pollution on the brain,” said Mònica Guxens, an ISGlobal researcher who participated in the study.
Source: Informacion
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