🧒 Children developed better as air got cleaner, 20-year study shows

• Children in New York scored higher on tests of memory, problem-solving and language as air pollution declined.
• Levels of fine particles and nitrogen dioxide in the city halved between 1998 and 2016.
• Since 2024, Oakland, California, has had an all-electric school bus fleet that transports up to 1,300 students every day.

More than 1,100 children followed for over 20 years

Researchers at Columbia University in New York have followed pregnant women and their children for more than two decades. The study took place in northern Manhattan and the South Bronx. The researchers measured the air pollution exposure of the mothers during pregnancy. They then tested the children's development at ages one, two and three. In total, more than 1,100 children were assessed.

The tests measured memory and sensory perception, among other things. The children also solved problems, such as matching shapes and stacking blocks. The researchers also tested speech and language comprehension.

The study is led by Professor Frederica Perera at the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health.

Scores rose as the air improved

Over the course of the study, the air in New York became much cleaner. Clean-air legislation reduced some pollutants from the city's yellow taxis by as much as 80 percent. Heavy fuel oils are being phased out for heating buildings. The city's buses run on cleaner fuels.

The children's test scores improved as the air got cleaner. The link was clearest when the children were two and three years old. It was also clear during periods when pollution fell more sharply.

The researchers took into account other factors that can affect child development. The share of children living with a smoker fell from 34 to 18 percent. The share of mothers with a high school diploma rose by nine percentage points.

Cleaner air brings better health in more places

London introduced an ultra-low emission zone. Afterwards, children's lung health improved, and fewer children had clinically impaired lung function. For adults in central London, emergency hospital admissions fell by 3 percent per year. Admissions for heart problems fell by 8 percent and for breathing problems by 6 percent.

In Bradford, England, GP visits for heart and breathing problems fell by about 25 percent after a clean-air zone was introduced.

The UN Environment Programme has calculated that action on air pollution and climate emissions yields an average of 15 dollars in economic benefits for every dollar invested.

Electric school buses remove exhaust from the ride to school

Thousands of school districts in the US are replacing diesel buses with electric buses. Electric buses have zero tailpipe emissions. This matters for the roughly five million children in the US who have asthma. Fine particle levels inside older diesel buses can reach ten times the level of outdoor air.

In 2024, Oakland Unified School District became the first major school district in the US with an all-electric school bus fleet. The district has 74 electric buses that transport up to 1,300 special education students every day.

Research shows that switching from diesel to electric school buses in the US can provide societal benefits worth 1.6 billion dollars per year. The calculation is based mainly on fewer deaths linked to fine particles.

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