IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0188731.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Socioeconomic disparities and sexual dimorphism in neurotoxic effects of ambient fine particles on youth IQ: A longitudinal analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Pan Wang
  • Catherine Tuvblad
  • Diana Younan
  • Meredith Franklin
  • Fred Lurmann
  • Jun Wu
  • Laura A Baker
  • Jiu-Chiuan Chen

Abstract

Mounting evidence indicates that early-life exposure to particulate air pollutants pose threats to children’s cognitive development, but studies about the neurotoxic effects associated with exposures during adolescence remain unclear. We examined whether exposure to ambient fine particles (PM2.5) at residential locations affects intelligence quotient (IQ) during pre-/early- adolescence (ages 9–11) and emerging adulthood (ages 18–20) in a demographically-diverse population (N = 1,360) residing in Southern California. Increased ambient PM2.5 levels were associated with decreased IQ scores. This association was more evident for Performance IQ (PIQ), but less for Verbal IQ, assessed by the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence. For each inter-quartile (7.73 μg/m3) increase in one-year PM2.5 preceding each assessment, the average PIQ score decreased by 3.08 points (95% confidence interval = [-6.04, -0.12]) accounting for within-family/within-individual correlations, demographic characteristics, family socioeconomic status (SES), parents’ cognitive abilities, neighborhood characteristics, and other spatial confounders. The adverse effect was 150% greater in low SES families and 89% stronger in males, compared to their counterparts. Better understanding of the social disparities and sexual dimorphism in the adverse PM2.5–IQ effects may help elucidate the underlying mechanisms and shed light on prevention strategies.

Suggested Citation

  • Pan Wang & Catherine Tuvblad & Diana Younan & Meredith Franklin & Fred Lurmann & Jun Wu & Laura A Baker & Jiu-Chiuan Chen, 2017. "Socioeconomic disparities and sexual dimorphism in neurotoxic effects of ambient fine particles on youth IQ: A longitudinal analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(12), pages 1-15, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0188731
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0188731
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0188731
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0188731&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0188731?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sue Ramsden & Fiona M. Richardson & Goulven Josse & Michael S. C. Thomas & Caroline Ellis & Clare Shakeshaft & Mohamed L. Seghier & Cathy J. Price, 2011. "Verbal and non-verbal intelligence changes in the teenage brain," Nature, Nature, vol. 479(7371), pages 113-116, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jan S. Cramer, 2012. "Childhood Intelligence and Adult Mortality, and the Role of Socio-Economic Status," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 12-070/4, Tinbergen Institute, revised 30 Oct 2013.
    2. Naomi Duke & Ross Macmillan, 2016. "Schooling, skills, and self-rated health: A test of conventional wisdom on the relationship between educational attainment and health," Working Papers 087, "Carlo F. Dondena" Centre for Research on Social Dynamics (DONDENA), Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi.
    3. Saha, Susmita & Pagnozzi, Alex & Bradford, Dana & Fripp, Jurgen, 2021. "Predicting fluid intelligence in adolescence from structural MRI with deep learning methods," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    4. Guez, Ava & Panaïotis, Thelma & Peyre, Hugo & Ramus, Franck, 2018. "Predictors of the IQ-achievement gap in France: A longitudinal analysis," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 104-116.
    5. Muennig, Peter, 2015. "Can universal pre-kindergarten programs improve population health and longevity? Mechanisms, evidence, and policy implications," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 116-123.
    6. Jan S. Cramer & Rob Kaas, 2013. "Mortality hazard rates and life expectancy," UvA-Econometrics Working Papers 13-03, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Dept. of Econometrics.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0188731. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.