Diesel fumes ‘slow down children’s brains’

CHILDREN’S brains slow down when they are exposed to high levels of air pollution, according to an alarming study.

Pupils who breathed in toxic diesel fumes on the way to school struggled to perform as well as normal, scientists found.

The children took longer to respond to questions and found it harder than usual to concentrate. On days when air pollution peaked, the problems worsened.

The disturbing findings appear to confirm some scientists’ fears that polluted air in Britain’s cities is poisoning youngsters’ brains as well as their lungs.

Earlier this year a study linked toxic air to 40,000 deaths a year in the UK – and Brussels warned Britain it could face fines if it continued to breach EU air pollution limits.

Prime Minister Theresa May recently warned that air pollution was the fourth biggest health risk behind cancer, obesity and heart disease. She said that high levels of emissions by dieselpowered vehicles were largely to blame.

The latest alert comes from Barcelona’s Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology. Scientists tracked 2,600 pupils aged seven to ten, testing their ability to pay attention in class and comparing the results with peaks and troughs in air quality.

The results, published in the journal Epidemiology, revealed that on days when noxious traffic fumes were at their highest, there was a marked reduction in the children’s ability to focus on problemsolving tasks. On average, their brain function slowed to the point where attention span was that of someone a month younger.