Association of traffic-related air pollution with cognitive development in children Freire, Carmen Ramos, Rosa Puertas, Raquel López-Espinosa, María-José Julvez, Jordi Aguilera, Inmaculada Cruz, Francisco Fernández Cabrera, Mariana Fátima Sunyer, Jordi Olea Serrano, Nicolás Consejería de Salud de la Junta de Andalucía (SAS 07/0133), the Spanish Ministry of Health (FIS 07/0252), Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (FPU-Programme to CF; Juan de la Cierva Programme-FSE to MJLE) and the European Commission (CONTAMED FP7-ENV-212502). Background Air pollution from traffic has been associated with cardiorespiratory diseases in children and adults, but there is little information on its potential neurotoxic effects. This study aimed to investigate the association between exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2), as a marker of traffic-related air pollution, and cognitive development in children. Methods A population-based birth cohort from southern Spain was followed from the age of 4 years for 1 year. Complete data for analyses were gathered on 210 children living in urban and rural areas. NO2 exposure was predicted by means of land use regression models. A standardised version of the McCarthy Scales of Children’s Abilities (MSCA) was used to assess children’s motor and cognitive abilities. Multivariate analyses were performed to evaluate the relation between exposure to NO2 and MSCA outcomes, adjusting for potential confounders. Results A negative effect of NO2 was found across all MSCA subscales, despite low predicted NO2 exposure levels (5e36 mg/m 3 ). Children exposed to higher NO 2 (>24.75 mg/m 3 ) showed a decrease of 4.19 points in the general cognitive score and decreases of 6.71, 7.37 and 8.61 points in quantitative, working memory and gross motor areas, respectively. However, except for gross motor function, associations were not statistically significant. Conclusion Although results were not statistically significant, the associations found between exposure to NO2 and cognitive functions suggest that traffic-related air pollution may have an adverse effect on neurodevelopment, especially early in life, even at low exposure levels. 2024-09-25T08:14:08Z 2024-09-25T08:14:08Z 2010 journal article Freire C, Ramos R, Puertas R, et al. Association of traffic-related air pollution with cognitive development in children. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health 2010;64:223-228. doi:10.1136/jech.2008.084574 https://hdl.handle.net/10481/95038 10.1136/jech.2008.084574 eng info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/EuropeanCommission/FP7-ENV-212502 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ open access Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional BMJ