More than 90 percent of the world’s population breathes polluted air, with particulate matter concentrations above the safety threshold set by the World Health Organization. A research team led by Simon Fraser University (SFU) in Canada has investigated the benefits of using air purifiers to reduce the negative impact of air pollution on brain development in children.
The research suggests that children’s verbal skills may be particularly sensitive to exposure to air pollution. Thus, reducing pollution during crucial brain development stages early in life could be an efficient way of improving children’s cognitive development around the world.
Air pollution is everywhere, and it is preventing children from reaching their full potential.
In addition, other published research links early-life air pollution exposure to the development of hyperactivity in children. Biological mechanisms, including narrowed blood vessels and toxicity in the brain’s frontal cortex, are triggered by air pollution. The US study was conducted by the research teams at the University of Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center