The shocking study found long-term exposure to air pollution had a negative impact on people’s ability to perform maths and verbal tests.
The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published the findings after thousands of people in China had their brain power tested over a period of four years.
Air pollution had the biggest effect on the elderly, according to the report submitted by the Yale School of Public Health.
It noted older men and the less educated suffered the worst effects when over-exposed to air pollution.
The paper read: “The damage on the aging brain by air pollution likely imposes substantial health and economic costs, considering that cognitive functioning is critical for the elderly for both running daily errands and making high-stake decisions.
vCard.red is a free platform for creating a mobile-friendly digital business cards. You can easily create a vCard and generate a QR code for it, allowing others to scan and save your contact details instantly.
The platform allows you to display contact information, social media links, services, and products all in one shareable link. Optional features include appointment scheduling, WhatsApp-based storefronts, media galleries, and custom design options.
“Polluted air can cause everyone to reduce their level of education by one year, which is huge.”
Air pollution is a massive issue to not just those in China, but people all over the world.
Up to 4.2 million people die each year from exposure to outdoor air pollution, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
They also report a worrying 91 percent of the planet’s population live in areas where the air quality exceeds WHO guideline limits.
Last month, China extended their air quality rankings to 169 cities from 74, including the highly polluted region of Shanxi-Shaanxi.
This added further pressure on local authorities to tackle the major problem as it intensifies, putting more lives at risk.
The rankings had previously focused on 28 of the smog-filled cities and northern region of the nation.
But this changed in July when China expanded its anti-pollution fight to 82 cities across China in a long-awaited 2018-2020 pollution action plan.
China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment said in a statement: “By including more cities in the ranking, it will strengthen public supervision on air pollution and urge local governments to adopt effective measures to improve air quality.”
The ranking system is part of an effort included in the anti-pollution action plan to pass pollution-control pressure over to local governments.