Air Pollution Exposure, Prefrontal Connectivity, and Emotional Behavior in Early Adolescence

This report, available for downloading below, presents a study led by Megan Herting of the University of Southern California, a recipient of HEI’s 2019 Walter A. Rosenblith New Investigator Award.  

Herting and colleagues examined whether childhood and prenatal exposure to residential outdoor fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) was associated with neurodevelopment over a 1-year period in a nationally representative cohort of children ages 9–10 in the United States.

Key takeaways from the study:

• Neurodevelopment was assessed by brain imaging of white matter connectivity in the prefrontal cortex and measures of emotional behavior.
• Higher childhood NO₂ exposure was associated with less white matter connectivity, which might indicate poorer brain development. Childhood PM_2.5 exposure was not associated with potentially harmful changes in white matter connectivity, and air pollution was not associated with worsening emotional behavior. Results were similar when adjusting for prenatal exposure.
• Outdoor air pollution exposure in childhood might affect brain development, but additional research is needed to determine whether these changes lead to clinical symptoms.