NYPost: Air Pollution Definitely Destructive in NYC

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New York Post 6/30/2006

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By CARL CAMPANILE

May 30, 2006 -- EXCLUSIVE

Children exposed to high levels of city air pollution while in the womb are

nearly three times more likely to have mental deficiencies than other kids,

an explosive Columbia University study has found.

The analysis compared the learning ability of 183 3-year-olds from Harlem,

Washington Heights and the South Bronx with the level of pollutants they

were exposed to before birth. The moms wore air monitors while they were

pregnant, and the kids are being studied over a number of years.

The study found that 42 kids exposed to the highest readings of polycyclic

aromatic hydrocarbons in utero - mostly exhaust fumes from cars, buses and

trucks, as well as power generators - scored 5.7 points lower on cognitive

tests than did kids in the sample who were subjected to lower levels of

pollutants. The scores were 6 percent lower than the other kids - but that

means the risk of being developmentally disabled for the most-exposed

3-year-olds was 2.9 times greater, because the kids tended to fall below a

crucial cutoff score.

Such delays in cognitive development could lead to academic difficulties in

literacy and math when the youngsters attend school, the study authors

claim.

The researchers said the findings were groundbreaking because they were

unaware of any other inquiry linking exposure of pollutants in the womb to

the mental development of kids several years later. Prior studies have shown

that pollutants can reduce fetal growth.

In-utero exposure to pollutants did not have a significant impact on mental

development at ages 1 and 2, the report said, and researchers do not know

why it took time for the problems to appear. " This is the first time it's

been shown that in-utero exposure to air pollutants is linked to delayed

cognitive development at age 3, " said chief researcher Dr. Frederica Perera,

director of the Columbia University Center for Children's Environmental

Health. " They had a significant drop in scores. "

She added, " These findings are of concern, because compromised mental

performance in the preschool years is an important precursor to subsequent

educational performance deficits.

The researchers said they enrolled the affected children in state preschool

" intervention " programs to help correct the developmental delays they had

found. The Columbia study focused on moms and kids in neighborhoods

surrounding the university, and most of the participants were black and

Latino. But Perera said the results were consistent across the race and

gender of the kids.

Environmental advocates have long complained that kids in these

neighborhoods suffer from higher rates of asthma because of air pollutants

caused by bus and truck traffic.

But Perera said the type of urban air pollutants cited in the study are

" very pervasive " throughout much of the city.

The mothers who participated in the study were nonsmokers, and the

researchers controlled for secondhand smoke. The moms carried air monitors

during the third trimester of pregnancy.

Umbilical-cord blood was also collected during delivery, to be tested for

pollutants.

carl.campanile@...