Exposure to indoor air pollution during childhood tends to be linked to poorer cognitive health in older adulthood. This suggests that access to clean energy early in life might help protect the brain as it ages. These findings come from a recent study published in Social Science & Medicine, which provides evidence that growing up in homes using solid fuels for cooking can set off a chain of disadvantages that affect memory and thinking skills decades later.
Xu Zong conducted the new study to explore a gap in our understanding of how early environmental exposures shape aging. While many scientists have established that breathing polluted air during adulthood increases the risk of cognitive decline, the long-term impact of breathing indoor air pollution during childhood remained mostly unexplored. Around the world, billions of people still rely on solid fuels like coal and wood for daily cooking and heating. This practice fills homes with toxic pollutants.
“I am interested in understanding how early-life living conditions, specifically indoor air pollution, may have long-term consequences for cognitive health. Air pollution has been highlighted by The Lancet as one of the modifiable risk factors for dementia. While much research has focused on adult exposures or urban outdoor pollution, there was a gap in linking childhood indoor environments to cognitive outcomes later in life,” said Zong, a researcher at the Max Planck – University of Helsinki Center for Social Inequalities in Population Health.
