Exposure to air pollution in early childhood can have lifelong effects on health, cognitive ability and even contribute to an early death, new research from the University of Edinburgh has found.

An analysis of nearly 3,000 people born in Scotland in 1936 has revealed those exposed to significant air pollution in early childhood had an increase chance of cancer – and were more likely to die early – than those raised in areas with less-polluted air.

Specifically, exposure to high levels of air pollution increased the chances of dying from cancer, especially from lung cancer in women.

While previous studies have investigated how poor air quality affects health over time, this is the first ever study to shed light on the life-long impact of breathing more polluted air in early life.

Professor Chris Dibben, the University of Edinburgh's Director of the Longitudinal Studies Centre Scotland and co-lead on this research, said studies following people from childhood to old will help policymakers understand what environments can help support healthy ageing:

“We are lucky, in Scotland, to have an increasing number of studies following people from childhood to old age. This is helping us to better understand what type of environments we need now to support healthy ageing in the future.”

Using data from the Scottish Longitudinal Study Birth Cohort, the team found that people exposed to high levels of air pollution when aged three were more likely to die between the ages of 65 and 86 than those subjected to low levels.

Looking at the links between air pollution and deaths over a 75-year period, the Edinburgh team leading the study analysed data from the Scottish Longitudinal Study Birth Cohort.

This cohort provides an anonymised, long-term representative sample of Scotland’s population.

Researchers also utilised results from a national cognitive ability test taken by each participant aged 11, and national death records from 1947 to 2022 to assess variance in mortality and cognition.

The Edinburgh team say that their findings suggest that past air pollution concentrations will likely continue to impact health and longevity for decades to come.

Air quality

The Edinburgh researchers were able to match historic air pollution levels estimated using atmospheric chemistry models with participants’ home addresses back in 1939.

Over the 75-year period, 1,608 of the participants died.

Exposure to higher levels of fine particle air pollution – known as PM2.5 – increased the risk of dying between the ages of 65 and 86 by up to 5% according to the study.

An 11% increased risk of dying from lung cancer was found among women.

In men, preliminary findings suggest early exposure could also be linked to an increased risk dying from neurodegenerative disorders in older adulthood.

Dr Gergő Baranyi, School of GeoSciences at the University of Edinburgh said:

“It is striking to see that children growing up in polluted areas can have consequences that persist throughout their entire life.

“These findings suggest that the effects of air pollution on our health can endure for decades, even after significant efforts are made to reduce pollution levels.”

Cognitive impact

Higher levels of pollution in earlier life were also associated with lower childhood cognitive ability, with children from more polluted areas tending to score lower in cognitive ability tests.

The researchers explain that these results suggests that pollution in the early years damages the developing brain.

The study findings indicate around 25% of the total impact of air pollution on death came indirectly from the effects on participants’ cognition as lower cognitive abilities have been linked to higher risk of mortality.

The Edinburgh team explains that this is because cognitive skills are important for achieving better educational outcomes and higher socioeconomic status, which are ultimately linked to living longer.

Last year, using this same Lothian Birth Cohort, the team found that the Scots who grew up in more deprived areas were at a greater risk of frailty as they aged.

Meanwhile, the Scottish government’s own ‘Cleaner Air for Scotland: Towards a Better Place for Everyone’ report highlights that the relationship between deprivation, air quality and health is complex.

The report states that while it is not always the case that the most deprived areas will experience the worst air quality, evidence points towards deprived communities suffer the effects of air pollution more.

Researchers say future studies should investigate the social, cognitive, and biological processes across the lifetime to better understand the impact of childhood exposure to pollution on health in later life.

Read more: Creating climate-resilient, healthy communities; NHS sustainability strategy launched; Glasgow: Working together for a healthy city; Blue-green prescribing for climate and public health; A question of action

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