A study says that infants who were highly exposed to traffic pollution were likely to develop ADHD

Infants who are more heavily exposed to pollution from car traffic are more likely to develop attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, a new National Institutes of Health study suggests. Children who lived in areas with high levels of "traffic-related air pollution" when they were a year old were significantly more likely by age 7 to have ADHD than children who lived in less polluted areas. The study, published Tuesday in NIH's Environmental Health Perspectives, was conducted by researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and researchers at the University of Cincinnati.

The study is the latest to suggest that pollution may play a role in the developing brain. Previous studies found that particulate matter associated with pollution can find its way into the brain, and that people who are exposed to high levels of air pollution might develop brain swelling. Children exposed to high levels of traffic pollution have also shown decreased memory performance and decreased scores on cognitive tests, and some studies suggest that pollution may play a role in the development of autism.

Source: US News, 21 May 2013
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/05/21/study-pollution-exposure…