Air pollution diminishes IQ

NEW YORK. A new study published in the August 2009 edition of Pediatrics shows a possible disturbing correlation between increased urban air pollution and decreased IQ points in children. The study sites polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), or "chemicals released into the air from the burning of coal, diesel, oil, and gas, or other organic substances such as tobacco" as the major perpetrators of inner - city air pollution, with a particular focus on motor vehicle use.

The study followed hundreds of expectant mothers who lived in Washington Heights, Harlem, or the South Bronx in New York. 140 of the 249 children tested were found to have had "high PAH exposure", and were found to have 4.31-4.67 fewer IQ points than their lesser - exposed peers.