空氣污染與兒童智力缺陷有密切關(guān)系

空氣污染與兒童智力缺陷有密切關(guān)系

Air pollution can be bad for children – starting even before birth, a new study suggests.

一項新研究表明，空氣污染可對兒童造成不良影響，而且這種影響甚至在他們出生之前就已經(jīng)開始了。

Researchers studied exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, a form of pollution caused by burning gasoline, diesel fuel, home heating oil and coal. They found that prenatal exposure to these compounds was tied to changes in the structure of offspring’s brains and to intellectual deficits and behavioral problems in childhood.

研究人員考察了兒童接觸多環(huán)芳烴(PAH)——一種因燃燒汽油、柴油燃料、家庭取暖燃油和燃煤產(chǎn)生的污染物——的情況。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)，產(chǎn)前暴露于這些化合物與兒童大腦的結(jié)構(gòu)變化和兒童期智力缺陷和行為問題有關(guān)。

The researchers measured PAH concentrations in the air and in the blood and urine of 40 mothers in their third trimester of pregnancy, as well as in their children’s urine. They followed the children until they were 7 to 9 years old, performing M.R.I. exams on their brains. The results are in JAMA Psychiatry.

研究人員測定了空氣中、40名孕婦妊娠晚期的血液和尿液中，及其子女尿液中的PAH濃度。在這些兒童年滿7至9歲前，研究人員一直對他們保持著追蹤，并對他們的大腦進行了M.R.I.(磁共振成像)檢查。研究結(jié)果發(fā)表在《美國醫(yī)學(xué)會雜志：精神病學(xué)》(JAMA Psychiatry)上。

The higher the exposure to PAHs, the more reductions the children had in the white matter surface of the left hemispheres of their brains. The amount of damaged white matter correlated directly with higher scores on measures of symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other behavioral problems.

PAH的暴露程度越高，兒童大腦左半球白質(zhì)表面積的減少就越明顯。而白質(zhì)損傷的程度與注意缺陷多動障礙(attention deficit hyperactivity disorder)和其他行為問題的癥狀指標得分較高直接相關(guān)。

Higher exposure to PAHs and white matter deterioration were also associated with lower scores on tests of processing speed, the ability to take in new information and respond to it.

PAH暴露較高及白質(zhì)損傷也與處理速度(processing speed，即人腦獲取新信息并對此作出反應(yīng)的能力)測試得分較低相關(guān)。

“Everyone is exposed to these compounds,” said the lead author, Dr. Bradley S. Peterson, director of the Institute for the Developing Mind at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. “Pregnant women and young children are very vulnerable to environmental insults to the developing brain, and these exposures are likely having devastating effects.”

“每個人都會接觸到這些化合物，”該研究的主要作者，洛杉磯兒童醫(yī)院(Children’s Hospital Los Angeles)心智發(fā)展學(xué)會(Institute for the Developing Mind)的主任布拉德利·S·彼得森(Bradley S. Peterson)博士說。“孕婦和幼兒對損害大腦發(fā)育的環(huán)境污染物非常敏感，暴露于這些污染物很可能造成災(zāi)難性的影響。”