A UK study finds that higher exposure to air pollution during pregnancy, infancy and early childhood is associated with slower lung development, with effects observed up to early adulthood. Researchers follow more than 5,000 people born in and around Bristol in the 1990s. Lung function is assessed from birth onward, with lung tests carried out when participants are children (at ages eight and 15) and again as adults at around age 24, when lung function is expected to reach its peak.
The findings indicate that the amount of pollution inhaled earlier in life relates to how much and how quickly the lungs grow. While previous evidence on air pollution health impacts has often focused on adults or on pregnancy, the study’s authors argue that it is plausible pollution can influence growth and development during childhood as well.
The research adds to the overall body of evidence on air pollution’s long-term effects by extending the timeline of potential harm from prenatal stages into the period of childhood lung development and continuing into early adult years.
