Prenatal exposure to air pollution linked to impulsivity, emotional problems in children

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-03/cums-pet031616.php

Public Release: 17-Mar-2016
Prenatal exposure to air pollution linked to impulsivity, emotional problems in children
Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health

Exposure to common air pollutants during pregnancy may predispose children to problems regulating their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors later on, according to a new study led by researchers at the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health within Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and New York State Psychiatric Institute.

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PAH are ubiquitous in the environment from emissions from motor vehicles; oil, and coal burning for home heating and power generation; tobacco smoke; and other combustion sources. (More on PAH and ways to limit exposure can be found on the CCCEH website.) Prenatal exposure to PAH has been associated with ADHD; symptoms of anxiety, depression and inattention; and also behavioral disorders, which are all thought to be related to deficits in self-regulation.

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Over time, low-exposure children followed a typical developmental pattern and improved in self-regulatory function, but the high-exposed children did not, underscoring the long-term effect of early-life exposure to PAH. Additionally, researchers found that DESR score had a mediating effect on tests of social competence, indicating that self-regulation is an important factor in developing social competence.

The evidence that prenatal exposure to PAH leads to long-term effects on self-regulatory capacities during early and middle childhood suggests that PAH exposure may be an important underlying and contributing factor to the genesis of a range of childhood mental health problems. In terms of a potential mechanism, researchers suggest that prenatal exposure to PAH damages neural circuits that direct motor, attentional, and emotional responses. Further deficits in self-regulation may predispose children to becoming engaged in high-risk adolescent behaviors.

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