Centre for Environmental Health, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), PO Box 1, 3720BA Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
Environ Res. 2012 May;115:18-25. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2012.03.002. Epub 2012 Apr 6.
Children living close to roads are exposed to both traffic noise and traffic-related air pollution. There are indications that both exposures affect cognitive functioning. So far, the effects of both exposures have only been investigated separately.
To investigate the relationship between air pollution and transportation noise on the cognitive performance of primary schoolchildren in both the home and school setting.
Data acquired within RANCH from 553 children (aged 9-11 years) from 24 primary schools were analysed using multilevel modelling with adjustment for a range of socio-economic and life-style factors.
Exposure to NO(2) (which is in urban areas an indicator for traffic-related air pollution) at school was statistically significantly associated with a decrease in the memory span length measured during DMST (χ(2)=6.8, df=1, p=0.01). This remained after additional adjustment for transportation noise. Statistically significant associations were observed between road and air traffic noise exposure at school and the number of errors made during the 'arrow' (χ(2)=7.5, df=1, p=0.006) and 'switch' (χ(2)=4.8, df=1, p=0.028) conditions of the SAT. This remained after adjustment for NO(2). No effects of air pollution exposure or transportation noise exposure at home were observed. Combined exposure of air pollution and road traffic noise had a significant effect on the reaction times measured during the SRTT and the 'block' and the 'arrow' conditions of the SAT.
Our results provide some support that prolonged exposure to traffic-related air pollution as well as to noise adversely affects cognitive functioning.
居住在道路附近的儿童会同时受到交通噪音和与交通相关的空气污染的影响。有迹象表明，这两种暴露都会影响认知功能。到目前为止，这两种暴露的影响仅分别进行了研究。
调查家庭和学校环境中，空气污染和交通噪声对小学生认知表现的影响。
在 RANCH 研究中，对 24 所小学的 553 名 9-11 岁儿童的数据进行了多层次模型分析，调整了一系列社会经济和生活方式因素。
在校时，NO₂（城市地区交通相关空气污染的指标）的暴露与 DMST 期间记忆跨度长度的降低呈统计学显著相关（χ²=6.8，df=1，p=0.01）。在进一步调整交通噪声后，这一结果仍然存在。在校时道路交通噪声和空气交通噪声暴露与 SAT 中“箭头”（χ²=7.5，df=1，p=0.006）和“切换”（χ²=4.8，df=1，p=0.028）条件下的错误数量呈统计学显著相关。在调整 NO₂后，这一结果仍然存在。在家中空气污染物暴露或交通噪声暴露均未观察到影响。空气污染和道路交通噪声的联合暴露对 SRTT 以及 SAT 的“块”和“箭头”条件下的反应时间有显著影响。
我们的研究结果提供了一些支持，表明长时间暴露于交通相关的空气污染和噪声会对认知功能产生不利影响。
