A new study found that, the toxic blend of air pollution and poverty could lower the intelligence quotient (IQ) of the children.
The discoveries by researchers at the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health (CCCEH) justifies that children born to mothers encountering financial hardship, who were likewise exposed amid pregnancy to abnormal amounts of PAH (polycyclic fragrant hydrocarbons), scored fundamentally lower on IQ tests at age 5 compared with kids born to mothers with more prominent economic Security and less exposure to the pollutants.
Material hardship is a measure used to assess an individual’s unmet essential needs concerning nourishment, clothing, and housing.
As part of the study, the researchers took after 276 mother-kid pairs from pregnancy through early childhood in New York City.
For assessing IQ in children, the researchers used the Wechsler Intelligence Scale.
Based on intelligence scale, the study found that children of mothers who reported more noteworthy material hardship, and were exposed to large amounts of PAH amid pregnancy scored lower on tests of full scale IQ, perceptual thinking, and working memory.
