Your brain on smog
I love being in the heart of a neighborhood near the IU campus and being able to walk everywhere. However, I live half a block from a major street, and the air I breathe is probably laced with various pollutants from the traffic on that street. (Back when I had a day job, I stood every day on the corner of a big intersection waiting to cross the street. While I waited, I sometimes contemplated what was happening to my lungs as I spent probably 10 or 15 minutes a day in close proximity to all those cars and buses; they are probably not as healthy and pink as they were when I started out.) Maybe I should have been worrying more about my brain.
Some recent research, reported by Scientific American, shows that airborne pollutants have a negative effect on the developing brains of unborn babies (lower IQ scores at age 5) and on the cognitive abilities of adults (reduced memory and attentional capacity and slower reaction times). Pending the development of greener alternative energy sources and greater energy efficiency, if you live in an urban environment you can reduce your exposure by choosing less-traveled streets for running and walking, and avoiding or ramping down activity on days when the smog is particularly bad.
You can also reduce your exposure (and everyone else’s) by taking your car on a one-way road trip to the salvage yard. It’s even more effective to lobby your local government to impose restrictions on parking.
What he said!