Research finds no ‘clear’ proof controversial ULEZ zones slash rates of lung conditions

MAKING CHILDREN HAVE A LOW IQ: Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco found in May 2019 that children of mothers who live in polluted areas have an IQ up to seven points lower than children who live in places with cleaner air.

MAKE CHILDREN HAVE A WORSE MEMORY: Researchers at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health found that boys exposed in utero to higher levels of PM2.5 performed worse on memory tests by the time they were 10.

SLOW DOWN THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN: Young people who live less than a third of a mile from busy roads are twice as likely to score lower on tests of childhood communication skills, researchers at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health found in April. They were also more likely to have worse hand-eye coordination.

MAKE CHILDREN MORE IMPORTANT: Scientists at the University of Cincinnati claimed that pollution can change the structure of children’s brains, making them more anxious. Their study of 14 young people found that levels of anxiety were higher in those exposed to more pollution.

SHORT YOUR CHILD’S LIFE: Children born today will lose nearly two years of their lives to air pollution, according to a report from the U.S. Health Effects Institute and the University of British Columbia in April 2019. UNICEF called for action on the research.

INCREASE A CHILD’S RISK OF AUTISM: Researchers at Monash University in Australia found that young people living in highly polluted areas of Shanghai are 86 percent more likely to develop ASD. Lead author Dr Yuming Guo said: ‘The developing brains of young children are more vulnerable to exposure to environmental toxins.’

CAUSE ASTHMA IN CHILDREN: Four million children around the world develop asthma each year as a result of road traffic pollution, a large-scale study by academics at George Washington University estimated. Experts are divided on the cause of asthma, but pollution exposure in childhood increases the risk by damaging the lungs.

MAKE CHILDREN FAT: Experts from the University of Southern California found last November that 10-year-olds who lived in polluted areas as babies weigh an average of 1 kg, heavier than those who grew up near cleaner air. Nitrogen dioxide pollution may disrupt the way children burn fat, the scientists said.

LEAVE WOMEN EARLY BARREN: Scientists from the University of Modena, Italy, claimed in May 2019 that they believe pollution speeds up aging in women, as does smoking, which means eggs run out faster. This was based on the fact that nearly two-thirds of women with low egg ‘reserves’ regularly breathed toxic air.

INCREASE THE RISK OF MISCARRY: Scientists at the University of Utah found in January that pregnant women are 16 percent more likely to miscarry if they live in high-pollution areas.

INCREASE THE RISK OF BREAST CANCER: Scientists at the University of Stirling found that six women working on the same bridge next to a busy road in the US developed breast cancer within three years of each other. There was a one in 10,000 chance that the cases were coincidental, the study said. It suggested that chemicals in the traffic fumes caused the cancer by knocking out the BRCA genes, which try to stop tumor growth.

DAMAGE A MAN’S SPERM: Brazilian scientists at the University of Sao Paulo found in March that mice exposed to toxic air had lower sperm counts and poorer quality compared to those who had breathed clean air since birth.

MAKE MEN LESS CHANCES OF BEING SEXUALLY INJURED: Scientists at Guangzhou Medical University in China found that rats exposed to air pollution had difficulty becoming sexually aroused. Scientists think it can also affect men, as inhaling toxic particles can cause inflammation in blood vessels and starve the genitals of oxygen, impairing men’s ability to become sexually aroused.

MAKE MEN MORE RISK OF ERECTILE DYFUCTION: Men living on major roads are more likely to get an erection from exposure to pollution, a study from the University of Guangzhou in China suggested in February. Toxic fumes reduced blood flow to the genitals, tests on rats showed, putting them at risk of developing erectile dysfunction.

INCREASE THE RISK OF PSYCHOSIS: In March, scientists at King’s College London linked toxic air to intense paranoia and hearing voices in young people for the first time. They said uncovering exactly how pollution can lead to psychosis should be an “urgent health priority.”

MAKE YOU DEPRESSED: Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found in January that the more polluted the air is, the sadder we are. Their study was based on analyzing social media users in China alongside the average daily PM2.5 concentration and weather data where they lived.

CAUSE DEMENTIA: Air pollution could be responsible for 60,000 cases of dementia in the UK, researchers from King’s College London and St George’s, University of London calculated last September. Tiny pollutants are breathed deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream, where they can travel to the brain and cause inflammation — a problem that can cause dementia.