Air pollution may be a reason you are weak in Maths: Study

New Delhi : It is already proven that air pollution does impact physical human health, and now a new study has claimed it also impacts badly on the intelligence.

According to the study, chronic exposure to the airborne particulate matter appears to cause significant falls in test scores for both language and arithmetic, with average results equating the impact of poisonous air to losing a year’s worth of education.

The research has been done in China, which is believed to have maximum air pollution, but the results are significantly relevant across the globe. Over 91 percent of the population across the globe lives in areas with bad air. Air Pollution has been considered fourth biggest reason of death in the world, according to World Health Organisation.

The Chinese study has been published in the proceedings of the National Academy of the sciences, took place over four years and analysed verbal and arithmetic tests taken by 20,000 people of all ages.

Pollution also increases the risk of degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, the study suggests.

"Polluted air may impede cognitive ability as people become older, especially for less educated men," the authors say.

"The damage on the aging brain by air pollution likely imposes substantial health and economic costs, considering that cognitive functioning is critical for the elderly for both running daily errands and making high-stake decisions."