哈佛大學公共衛生學院的蘇吉拉醫生說，空氣汙染對兒童智商所造成的影響，同母親在懷孕時每天吸10根香煙對胎兒的傷害，或兒童吸入毒鉛的危害是一樣的。
蘇吉拉醫生及其研究小組說，盡管空氣汙染對心髒病及呼吸疾病的影響已獲廣泛的研究，不過，科研人員還不清楚空氣汙染可能對大腦所造成的影響。
研究小組對202名年齡介於8到11歲的兒童進行研究後發現，腦部的認知功能同兒童接觸到的炭黑水平有關聯。汽車所排放的塵埃顆粒中就含有炭黑。吸入越多炭黑的兒童在智商測驗中的得分就越低。
吸入大量炭黑的兒童，智商測驗平均得分下跌3.4。這些兒童在語匯測驗、記憶力測驗及學習能力測驗上，得分也較為低。
蘇吉拉醫生說：“這同胎兒受母體吸煙的影響及吸入毒鉛的影響是相同的。”
她指出，除了搬到空氣清新的地區之外，沒有其他有效的辦法。
研究小組說，空氣汙染可能造成大腦發炎及氧化損傷，因而影響智商。
Best reason yet for congestion pricing: kids' mental health
Sunday, March 23rd 2008, 4:00 AM
With the city and state just weeks away from a final decision on congestion pricing - and supporters and foes trading a barrage of revenue and traffic projections and environmental arguments - it's time for New Yorkers to look at the problem in somewhat starker terms.
If we don't do something to reduce automobile congestion, our children's brain development could be put at risk.
That's right: researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health have just shown that high levels of traffic-related air pollution in cities like New York may be harming kids' brains and lowering their intelligence in much the same way cigarette smoke and lead paint do.
The study, published last month in the American Journal of Epidemiology, examined 202 children ages 8 to 11 in Boston. Researchers assessed the children's exposure to black carbon, most of which comes from tailpipe pollution, and had the children take a large battery of IQ and other brain-performance tests.
After adjusting for the children's exposure to tobacco smoke and lead, their wealth and parental education, a wide array of brain functions were impaired in children with higher exposure to traffic-related air pollution. Being in the top 25% of exposed kids compared with the next 25% cost them about 3-1/2 IQ points.
That is not insignificant - especially if it's your child at the receiving end of that pollution.
In fact, the effect of traffic-related air pollution on intelligence was similar to that seen in children whose mothers smoked 10 cigarettes a day while pregnant, or in kids who have been exposed to lead.
This new finding builds on a growing body of evidence that traffic-related pollution causes many different kinds of health problems. While most people already know the strong link between air pollution and asthma, awareness is just now growing about how automobile pollution's effects on the heart and arteries can lead to heart attacks and premature death. Children exposed to pollution can have stunted lung development. Traffic-related pollution also can have harmful reproductive effects: Several studies confirm lower birth weight and other developmental problems in babies born to mothers exposed to traffic pollution.
Then, factor in the physical activity upside to children and all New Yorkers of cutting down on traffic. Getting people out of personal vehicles and using public transportation - in other words, getting people walking even more - is good for the heart, the bones, the fight against cancer, and has a host of other good effects.
But this new Harvard School of Public Health study puts all these risks and benefits in a new light. It brings the brain development of our children - who have no choice about the neighborhoods in which they happen to grow up - squarely into the equation.
If health effects alone were enough to pass a smoking ban, surely the combination of health effects with the other benefits - economic, environmental and quality of life - should seal the deal in favor of congestion pricing.
Will the City Council and state Legislature get the message?
This is not just about securing $354 million in federal transit aid to fund innovative programs such as a bus rapid transit system, as well as more buses and subway cars on the busiest routes in the city. It's not just about doing something to slow global warming by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It's not just about preparing the city for the million new residents who will call it home in the coming generation.
It is, quite literally, an investment in the future health, welfare and success of the next generation of New Yorkers.
John Balbus, M.D., M.P.H., is the chief health scientist and health program director for the Environmental Defense Fund and a member of Children's Health Protection Advisory Committee for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
