By Paul Mohai, Byoung-Suk Kweon, Sangyun Lee, and Kerry Ard Air Pollution Around Schools Is Linked To Poorer Student Health And Academic Performance ABSTRACT Exposing children to environmental pollutants during important times of physiological development can lead to long-lasting health problems, dysfunction, and disease. The location of children’s schools can increase their exposure. We examined the extent of air pollution from industrial sources around public schools in Michigan to find out whether air pollution jeopardizes children’s health and academic success. We found that schools located in areas with the highest air pollution levels had the lowest attendance rates—a potential indicator of poor health—and the highest proportions of students who failed to meet state educational testing standards. Michigan and many other states currently do not require officials considering a site for a new school to analyze its environmental quality. Our results show that such requirements are needed. For schools already in existence, we recommend that their environmental quality should be investigated and improved if necessary. T here are more than fifty-three mil- lion schoolchildren and more than 135,000 public and private schools in the United States. 1 Are these schools safe and healthy places for children to grow, play, and learn? Or are we exposing children to unhealthy pollution? Children are known to be more vulnerable than adults to the effects of pollution. Exposure to environmental pollutants during important times of physiological development can lead to long-lasting health problems, dysfunction, and disease. 2 Children’s lung functioning is not yet fully developed. 3–5 Compared to adults, they breathe in greater levels of polluted air relative to their weight and spend more time outside when air pollution levels are the highest. 5 And because of differences in metabolism, mouthing behavior—such as the tendency to put their hands and objects in their mouths—and respira- tory rates, children are often exposed to higher levels of lead, arsenic, pesticides, and other pol- lutants. 4 Moreover, children have little or no choice about where they live or go to school. Childhood is a critical period for brain forma- tion. Researchers have shown that children ex- posed to air pollution perform worse on cogni- tive functioning tests 6 and have impaired neurological function 7–9 and lower IQ scores 10 compared with other children. Also, children exposed to high levels of nitrogen dioxide—a common air pollutant generated by the burning of fossil fuels—have been found to have “de- creases of 6.71, 7.37 and 8.61 points in quanti- tative, working memory and gross motor areas, respectively.” 11 Similarly, children with high levels of expo- sure to nitrogen dioxide and particles 10 microm- eters or less in the air—a standard used by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to mea- sure air quality—perform significantly worse on neurobehavioral tests, even after confounding variables are controlled for. 6 In one example of this kind of test, to measure line discrimination, doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2011.0077 HEALTH AFFAIRS 30, NO. 5 (2011): 852–862 ©2011 Project HOPE— The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc. Paul Mohai (pmohai@umich .edu) is a professor in the School of Natural Resources and Environment and a faculty associate at the Institute for Social Research, both at the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor. Byoung-Suk Kweon is a research investigator at the Institute for Social Research and an adjunct assistant professor in the School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan. Sangyun Lee is a postdoctoral research fellow in the School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan. Kerry Ard is a graduate student in sociology and environmental policy at the University of Michigan. 852 Health Affairs May 2011 30:5 Vulnerabilities Of Children Downloaded from HealthAffairs.org on June 08, 2020. Copyright Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved. Reuse permissions at HealthAffairs.org.