EFFECTS OF TRAFFIC-RELATED AIR POLLUTION ON COGNITIVE FUNCTION AND ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS OF ADOLESCENTS

Air pollution has become a global public health concern. Common sources of outdoor air pollution are combustion of fossil fuels, and industrial and agricultural processes. For the last decade, literature on the detrimental impacts of air pollution on brain, cognition and behavior has increased immensely. There is increasing evidence of the hazards of air pollution on the central nervous system (CNS). Furthermore, air pollution has recently been considered as a suspected neurodevelopmental toxicant. There is enough evidence that exposure to a range of largely trafc-related pollutants is associated with quantiable impairment of brain development in the young and cognitive decline in the elderly. Since there is insufcient evidence in case of adolescents, the present study has been undertaken to explore the adverse effects of trafc related air pollution on cognitive functioning and environmental awareness of adolescents belonging to the age group of 16 to 18 years. Samples have been selected from two higher secondary schools and the school selection has been done purposively on the basis of proximity of the school from the main road with heavy amount of trafc throughout the day. Four standardized tests on cognitive functioning and an Environmental awareness questionnaire have been administered and data have been analyzed by descriptive statistics, t-tests and one-way analysis of variance. The ndings are coherent with earlier studies suggesting signicant adverse inuence of air pollution on cognitive functions as well as environmental awareness. Further environmental awareness has signicant effect on memory, orientation and perceptuo-motor skills, which implies that it is necessary to increase awareness to control the adverse effects.