Cognitive Development and Prenatal Air Pollution Exposure in the CHAMACOS Cohort

Abstract

We found that small increases in outdoor <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mi>PM</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mn>2.5</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:mrow></mml:msub></mml:mrow></mml:math> exposure <i>in utero</i> were associated with slightly lower IQ in late childhood, robust to many sensitivity analyses. In this cohort there was a larger effect of <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mi>PM</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mn>2.5</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:mrow></mml:msub></mml:mrow></mml:math> on childhood IQ than has previously been observed, perhaps due to differences in PM composition or because developmental disruption could alter the cognitive trajectory and thus appear more pronounced as children get older. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP10812.