While many actions are being taken to address climate problems, here’s a research report you can use to keep your thinking as sharp as possible.
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Air pollution reduces people’s ability to
focus on everyday tasks, study finds
Even brief exposure to particulate matter found to
impede selective attention and emotional recognition
The Guardian
6 Feb 2025
A person’s ability to focus on everyday tasks is affected by short-term exposure to air pollution, a study has found.
Researchers analysed data from cognitive tests completed by 26 participants before and after they were exposed either to high levels of particulate matter (PM) using smoke from a candle, or clean air for an hour.
The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, found that even brief exposure to high concentrations of PM affected participants’ selective attention and emotion recognition – regardless of whether they breathed normally or just through their mouth. This can affect an individual’s ability to concentrate on tasks, avoid distractions and behave in a socially appropriate way.
Dr Thomas Faherty of the University of Birmingham, a co-author of the study, said …
“Participants exposed to air pollution were not
as good at avoiding the distracting information.
So that means in daily life, you could get more
distracted by things. Supermarket shopping is
a good example … it might mean that you get
more distracted by impulse buys when you’re
walking along supermarket aisles because
you’re not able to focus on your task goals.”
The study also found that participants performed worse on cognitive tests evaluating emotional recognition after being exposed to PM air pollution. Faherty said …
“They were worse at perceiving whether a face
was fearful or happy, and that might have impli-
cations for how we behave with other people.
“There are associative studies looking at short-
Term air pollution and incidents of things like
violent crime, especially in US cities. So you could
kind of tentatively link those things together,
possibly saying that the reason for that might
be some kind of emotional dysregulation.”
The study found that participants’ working memory was not affected, indicating that some brain functions are more resilient to short-term pollution exposure than others.
Air pollution is one of the greatest environmental risk factors to public health globally. The World Health Organization has estimated that outdoor air pollution causes about 4.2 million premature deaths a year worldwide.
Researchers say the findings of the study could have significant societal and economic implications, including for educational attainment and work productivity. Faherty said …
“The study was done on a clinically healthy
adult population, which means that they were
of good health and had no clinical respire-
tory or neurological problems … certain other
groups might be more vulnerable to effects.
“Everyone’s getting smarter as time goes on
because we’ve eradicated things that kill us
and also we have a lot better nutrition than
we did even 20 years ago. You find that things
like air pollution are more important as a kind
of barrier to cognitive wellbeing or IQ, because
everything else has kind of been eradicated.”
The study is part of a larger project that will test the impact of different sources of pollutants, which researchers hope will help inform future policy and public health measures. Faherty said …
“The larger project looks at different sources
of pollutants, which are more common. So
like cooking emissions and wood burning
and car exhaust and cleaning products,
to kind of tease out whether we can kind
of push policy in a certain direction.
“If we know that cleaning pro-ducts are causing
most of these issues that I’m describing, then
we can kind of push on policy to fix the things
that are wrong based on the source rather than
what we can just measure in the air after the fact.”
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If we experience a strong odor, or a flood of particulate matter, such as tree pollen, we typically take action to get out of that environment. But, if the particulate matter is subtle, we often just don’t recognize it. We can, with very little cost or change to our lifestyle, ensure a healthier air quality. In fact, some of our web site’s ten one-minute “tips” videos, focus on healthy air. Adding D’s comments …
”When you breathe in, you can inhale air that supports your body and spirit. When you breathe in, you can also inhale toxins, air pollution, or even particulate matter. The latter effects your entire body, including lungs, heart, brain, and it can also include your ability to learn, and your ability to be happy or depressed. In other words, toxins affect all of you. Most of the time, a human does not smell or taste these toxins. We suggest you really work on your indoor air quality to ensure you have a safe and healthy environment.
“Stu’s suggestion of looking at the short videos will be helpful. Here are things to consider:
- What type of paint has been used in your home, and do you need to change toward zero VOC?
- Have a lot of plastics been used in your home, such as for moldings, shelves or doors? If so, what can you change?
- What kinds of finishes have been used in your home, and if any are unhealthy, such as carpeting dyes, plastic or nylon fibers, or mastic that off-gasses; what can be changed?
- Do you cook with a natural gas stove, which off-gasses benzine, even when not in use? If so, can you switch to an induction electric cooktop?
- And the last suggestion: How many more plants can you add to your home, such as the Boston Fern, which absorbs many toxins, to make your home’s air healthier?
