Study Links Air Pollution to Children’s Low GPAs

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://news.utep.edu/?p=31288

[font face=Serif][font size=5]Study Links Air Pollution to Children’s Low GPAs[/font]

Last Updated on August 27, 2015 at 2:49 pm

[font size=3]EL PASO, Texas – A University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) study on children’s health has found that fourth and fifth graders who are exposed to toxic air pollutants at home are more likely to have lower GPAs.

UTEP researchers analyzed academic performance and sociodemographic data for 1,895 fourth and fifth grade children living in El Paso, Texas that were attending the El Paso Independent School District (EPISD).

They used the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Air Toxics Assessment to estimate children’s exposure to toxic air pollutants, such as diesel exhaust, around the location of their homes.

Children who were exposed to high levels of motor vehicle emissions from cars, trucks and buses on roads and highways were found to have significantly lower GPAs, even when accounting for other factors known to influence school performance. The results of the study were published in the academic journal Population and Environment.

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[KT2000]

1. I would guess that pesticides

are used a lot in Texas as well - known neurotoxins.

[OKIsItJustMe]

2. From the press release…

…

“This isn’t a phenomenon unique to EPISD,” Grineski said. “What makes our study different is that we are actually studying kids in their home setting, but there’s a body of literature where they have studied levels of air pollution at schools in California and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, instead of at children’s homes. A study on the Los Angeles Unified School District showed that schools with higher levels of pollution have lower standardized test scores.”

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[Nihil]

3. ... but on the positive side ...

... this will provide absolutely no impediment to a career in government!