The impact of long- and short-term exposure to different ambient air pollutants on cognitive function in China

• Main Authors: Huaxi Gao, Jieran Shi, Hongguang Cheng, Yaqin Zhang, Yan Zhang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2021-06-01
• Series: Environment International
• Subjects: Air pollution; Cognition; Long-term exposure; Short-term exposure; Environmental justice
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412021000404

In the field of environmental health, the impact of air pollution on people's cognitive function is receiving increasing attention. Various air pollution exposures and different exposure periods result in different degrees of damage to cognition. This paper first used CFPS cognitive tests to evaluate the cognitive function of 15,163 adults in 25 provinces of China. Next, based on the geographical location of the population, the kriging interpolation method was applied to evaluate the different exposure periods for various air pollutants (PM2.5, NO2 and O3). Air pollution exposures lasting 3 years and more were referred to in this paper as long-term exposures, while those lasting<3 years were short-term exposures. This paper used an ordinary least squares (OLS) regression model to explore the differential effects of various air pollutant exposures and discussed the impact of long- and short-term exposure to pollutants. Subsequently, Moran's index was used to test the spatial connection for cognitive function, and the spatial error model was used for analysis in the spatial autoregressive model. This research also conducted a heterogeneity study on the justice of air pollutant exposure among people with different characteristics. The population was classified according to cognitive function and geographic location using OLS regression and quantile regression, and a propensity score matching (PSM) model was used for cross-validation to explore whether people with different characteristics and attributes were differentially exposed to air pollution. We found that there were significant negative relationships between air pollutant exposure and cognitive function, especially PM2.5 exposure and long-term exposure. In addition, air pollution had significantly different impacts on cognition based on the different characteristics and attributes of the person exposed. This study helps by analyzing the socioeconomic factors that affect the level of exposure and suggests that groups who are vulnerable to environmental pollution should be protected and the occurrence of injustice reduced. The study also provides a reference for the distribution of pollution sources and the allocation of health resources, which can be useful for population distribution planning.