Book explores psychological effects of pollution on children

Wherever we live, pollution lives with us. Whether it’s chemical runoff from farms or loud music booming down the street, pollution touches us not just physically, but also mentally and emotionally, according to a new book by Colleen Moore, a psychology professor at UW–Madison.

Pollution can result in more than fevers and cancer, says Moore: “It can change psychological function. These changes are just as real and important to understand as the biological ones.”

The book, called Silent Scourge: Children, Pollution and Why Scientists Disagree, examines six types of pollution – lead, mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), pesticides, noise, chemical waste and radiation – and provides comprehensive evidence of each pollutant’s effects on mental well-being, particularly among children.

“Pollutants are all around us, and they affect us in many ways, including our psychological state,” says the author, who has taught a course in the psychology of environmental issues for 10 years. Pollution, in fact, marked the author’s own childhood.

“I grew up in Southern California when air pollution was at its worst,” she says. “My friend and I would walk back from the swimming pool and try to make each other take a deep breath.” Breathing in that air after exercise, she recalls, hurt and also took the joy out of playing.

These recollections remind Moore of the importance of examining the myriad effects of pollution on children. Yet, she says, “None of the textbooks in developmental psychology, educational psychology or pediatrics discusses in depth how pollution can change our behavior, mood and learning abilities as we grow up.”

Through research examples presented in the book, Moore documents the ways in which exposure to particular pollutants during childhood can alter psychological and mental function. And, as she writes in the book, “Exposure to pollution is not an equal-opportunity event in America, or in most parts of the world.”

For example, while all children – regardless of race or socioeconomic background – can experience excessive exposure to lead, African-American children in families living below poverty are almost seven times more likely to experience it than white children from middle- to upper-income families, according to Moore. This is due, in part, to substandard housing.

Children exposed to high levels of lead, the author adds, are at greater risk of developing behavioral problems, such as inattentiveness and restlessness, and of performing less well academically, particularly in areas related to reading. Some evidence exists, Moore says, that lead exposure also lowers scores on intelligence tests. “This kind of pollution,” explains the author, “puts certain children at a greater disadvantage in school and later on in life.”

Moore says children who live near busy roads or who attend school in noisy areas, such as by airports, also suffer emotionally and intellectually. As cited in one study, children who live on the lower floors of New York City apartment buildings overlooking the interstate highway, I-95, have more difficulty concentrating, reading and identifying words in spoken speech, compared to their peers living on higher floors. (The study controlled for parents’ education and income, and all the children attended the same school.)

Pollution may surround us, but strides have been made to limit its presence. Through efforts, such as banning leaded gasoline and using lead-free paint, children’s exposure to lead has dropped dramatically, says Moore.

In the book, the author does her part, too, both for the individual and global community, by providing tips that “protect your family, protect our planet.”

More environmental policy to regulate pollutants, however, is still needed, says Moore. “For example, Federal Aviation Association regulations on flying airplanes over schools don’t really provide enough protection from the noise,” she says.

Developing these policies, she says in the book, rests not on the shoulders of science, but on personal ethics. “The key question is, ‘How much exposure is too much?’ But how do we go about deciding that?” asks Moore, who also studies the psychology of judgment and decision-making. Science can provide some help, she says, but the ultimate decision will be based on people’s values.

Moore’s 320-page book (Oxford University Press, $35) will be available to the public May 1.