A new study in Environmental Health Studies found that children in Mongolia had better IQ test scores at age 4 years when their family had a home HEPA air filter while the mother was pregnant.
During the study, some pregnant women were given HEPA air filters for their homes, while others lived life like they normally would. The women got the HEPA air filters about 11-12 weeks of pregnancy, and the air filters were only there while the women were pregnant, then given back. It was a randomized control trial, meaning that it was random which women had the air filters and there were some women who got filters and some who didn’t. Women in both groups had about the same income and education levels.
Once the children were 4 years old, the researchers tested them using a standard IQ test (Wechsler WPPSI-IV) that had been translated and tested and validated.
The researchers found that children had better IQ test scores when their mother had an air filter in the house during pregnancy. The average increase was 2.8-3.2 points. This may not seem like much, but it is in the same range as mild traumatic brain injury or children having blood lead levels of 2.4-10 μg/dL. The researchers were from the Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences, Simon Fraser University (Canada), and Harvard.
This study is significant because it suggests that prenatal exposure to air pollution affects brain development so much that you can detect changes years later, when the children are 4 years old. It is another study showing us that air pollution affects brain development and cognitive function in very young children.
While this study shows that the HEPA air filters can help children, remember that the best and most effective way to protect children is to reduce air pollution, as an invited commentary points out. This will not only help all children, it will also help everyone – people at home, people who work outside, children or adults on sports teams or who play or exercise outside – everyone.
Also note that the air pollution levels in Ulaanbaatar, where the study was down, are about 4-5 times higher than in the U.S. Much of the air pollution comes from coal-fired furnaces or home heaters. So it is not directly comparable to the U.S., but adds to evidence about the profound effects air pollution has on brain development and cognitive function. We know that air pollution affects our brains from before we are born until we are seniors, including damaging cognitive function in people of all ages, brain development, school performance, strokes, and dementia.
Read a news article about the study here.
Read the scientific study here.
07-05-2022
