The air that dims our brains

by: Christian Federe

Air pollution is making us dumb and it will grow worse because we are urbanizing fast

Whenever something goes wrong with our bodies and minds, we go on the path to find out what has
gone wrong. And often, we assume that it's just one thing – usually, a process that is directly connected
to the body part that's bothering us. So when we have breathing problems, we blame the air. When we
have stomach pain, we zero in on what we could have eaten that messed up the fine balance we have in
our guts. When a particular group of our muscles ache, we try to recall a certain irregular stretch we
may have done, or some overtime in inertia, like sitting in traffic for hours. We do that because our
brains naturally want to make sense of what is going on. It will not settle unless it finds some kind of
"explanation," even if that explanation is wrong or incomplete.

But we also know that our bodies and minds are far more complex than the daily, straightforward self-
diagnosis we make of our aches and pains. We know that health causes and effects form connections
not just across our body parts but also between our health and the environment. And of course, there is
also the process all bodies go through across time: aging. Knowing this, it should not surprise us that
recently, scientists have discovered another "hidden" connection: air pollution is making us dumb.

A recent study has found that prolonged exposure to pollution causes significant declines in human
intelligence, particularly among the elderly. The study collected pollution data across 162 counties in
China and the cognitive test results of 25,000 people living there. They found that the verbal language
and math abilities have dropped in those people who have had accumulated exposure to air pollution,
but a lot more with elder men. This shows that aside from the natural vulnerabilities of the aging body
and mind, an environmental cause like air pollution is yet another thing that will be challenging for
adults to deal with as they grow older.

This is certainly not good news for countries like ours whose enforcement of air pollution policies
demonstrates only, at best, occasional bursts of commitment to clean the air. In the local news recently,
a lot of talk has been going on about allowing fuel grades that emit higher vehicular emission because
they are cheaper. The government in the past has mandated switching to higher fuel grades with less
emissions, but faced with protests over rising prices, they seem to be backtracking on that commitment.
And in AM radio shows that interview public officials, I have not yet heard anyone raise the issue of
clean air, our breathing requirements, and now with this study, the threat of air pollution to the IQ of
older Filipino men.

The effect of air pollution on children's IQ has already been previously established. A past study found
that children who live in highly urbanized areas with heavy pollution suffer damages to their IQ even
before they take their first breath outside the womb. This is because of the mother's exposure to toxic
fumes. The effects were seen when the same kids were tested a few years later.

A recent study that was published recently showed that the effect of air pollution is much worse on kids
who have the gene often implicated in Alzheimer's in older years, as compared to kids who do not have
it. These kids have lower IQ, more behavioral problems, and a smaller brain part called the caudate
nucleus which plays major roles in learning and behavior.

More and more places are being transformed into cities which, if we are not vigilant, will turn into the
same urban places whose land, water, and air have become blurry and dim. This means if we do not get
our act together, the places we love will grow dim, and our minds, literally, along with them.