TY - JOUR
T1 - The Effects of Traffic Air Pollution in and around Schools on Executive Function and Academic Performance in Children: A Rapid Review
AU - Gartland, Nicola
AU - Aljofi, Halah
AU - Dienes, Kimberly
AU - Munford, Luke
AU - Theakston, Anna
AU - Van Tongeren, Martie
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding: This research was funded by Global Action Plan (GAP). GAP did not play any role in the design of the review or search strategy, analysis, interpretation of data, nor writing of the manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2022/1/10
Y1 - 2022/1/10
N2 - This review summarises the extant literature investigating the relation between traffic-related air pollution levels in and around schools and executive functioning in primary-school-aged children. An electronic search was conducted using Web of Science, Scopus, and Education Literature Datasets databases (February 2020). Review articles were also searched, and forwards and backwards searches of identified studies were performed. Included papers were assessed for quality. We included 9 separate studies (published in 13 papers). Findings suggest that indoor and outdoor particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 µm or less (PM
2.5 ) negatively influences executive function and academic achievement and that indoor and outdoor nitrogen dioxide (NO
2 ) adversely affects working memory. Evidence for the effects of particulate matter with a diameter of 10 µm or less (PM
10 ) is limited but suggests potential wide-ranging negative effects on attention, reasoning, and academic test scores. Air pollution in and around schools influences executive function and appears to impede the developmental trajectory of working memory. Further research is required to establish the extent of these effects, reproducibility, consequences for future attainment, and place within the wider context of cognitive development.
AB - This review summarises the extant literature investigating the relation between traffic-related air pollution levels in and around schools and executive functioning in primary-school-aged children. An electronic search was conducted using Web of Science, Scopus, and Education Literature Datasets databases (February 2020). Review articles were also searched, and forwards and backwards searches of identified studies were performed. Included papers were assessed for quality. We included 9 separate studies (published in 13 papers). Findings suggest that indoor and outdoor particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 µm or less (PM
2.5 ) negatively influences executive function and academic achievement and that indoor and outdoor nitrogen dioxide (NO
2 ) adversely affects working memory. Evidence for the effects of particulate matter with a diameter of 10 µm or less (PM
10 ) is limited but suggests potential wide-ranging negative effects on attention, reasoning, and academic test scores. Air pollution in and around schools influences executive function and appears to impede the developmental trajectory of working memory. Further research is required to establish the extent of these effects, reproducibility, consequences for future attainment, and place within the wider context of cognitive development.
KW - Academic achievement
KW - Children
KW - Cognitive function
KW - Review
KW - School
KW - Traffic-related air pollution
KW - Working memory
U2 - 10.3390/ijerph19020749
DO - 10.3390/ijerph19020749
M3 - Review article
SN - 1660-4601
VL - 19
JO - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
JF - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
IS - 2
M1 - 749
ER -
