title: Air Pollution and Cognitive Development at Age 7 in a Prospective Italian Birth Cohort.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Early life exposure to air pollution has been linked with cognitive impairment in children, but the results have not been conclusive. We analyzed the association between traffic-related air pollution and cognitive function in a prospective birth cohort in Rome.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cohort of 719 newborns was enrolled in 2003-2004 as part of the GASPII project. At age 7 years, 474 children took the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III to assess their cognitive development in terms of IQ composite scores. Exposure to air pollutants (NO2, PMcoarse, PM2.5, PM2.5 absorbance) at birth was assessed using land use regression models. We also considered variables indicating traffic intensity. The effect of environmental pollution on IQ was evaluated performing a linear regression model for each outcome, adjusting for gender, child age at cognitive test, maternal age at delivery, parental educational level, siblings, socio-economic status, maternal smoking during pregnancy, and tester. To account for selection bias at enrollment and during follow-up, the regression models were weighted for the inverse probabilities of participation and follow-up.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A 10 μg/m³ higher NO2 exposure during pregnancy was associated with 1.4 fewer points (95% confidence interval = -2.6, -0.20) of verbal IQ, and 1.4 fewer points (95% confidence interval = -2.7, -0.20) of verbal comprehension IQ. Similar associations were found for traffic intensity in a 100 m buffer around home. Other pollutants showed negative associations with larger confidence intervals.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Consistent with previous evidence, this study suggests an association of exposure to NO2 and traffic intensity with the verbal area of cognitive development.See Video Abstract at http://links.lww.com/EDE/B12.
authors.affiliation: From the aDepartment of Epidemiology of the Lazio Regional Health Service, Rome, Italy; bCentre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), Barcelona, Spain; and cDepartment of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Porta
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Narduzzi
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Badaloni
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bucci
authors.forename: Giulia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cesaroni
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Colelli
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Davoli
authors.forename: Jordi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sunyer
authors.forename: Eleonora
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Zirro
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schwartz
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Forastiere
mesh_terms: D000397:Air Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D003071:Cognition; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D009585:Nitrogen Dioxide; D052638:Particulate Matter; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D001335:Vehicle Emissions; D014888:Wechsler Scales
chemical_list: D052638:Particulate Matter; D001335:Vehicle Emissions; D009585:Nitrogen Dioxide