Traffic pollutants can lower a child's IQ. According to a new study of 202, 8- to 11-year-old children in Boston, kids living in areas with cleaner air faired better on memory and intelligence tests.
A Reuters article on the findings said:
The effect of pollution on intelligence was similar to that seen in children whose mothers smoked 10 cigarettes a day while pregnant, or in kids who have been exposed to lead, Dr. Shakira Franco Suglia of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, the study's lead author, told Reuters Health.
The test focused on the children's exposure to black carbon.
