Industrial Air Pollution and Cognitive Decline Across the Life Course

• In Event: Student Forum Roundtables Session
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Roundtable 10: Environment and Inequality

Abstract

Exposure to toxic air pollution has been linked to adverse neurologic and cognitive health outcomes, serving as a risk factor for stroke, dementia, and cognitive impairment. Prior work examining pollution and cognition is largely cross-sectional, operationalizes pollution as particulate matter (and thus does not account for chemical composition), and tends to focus on dementia risk in older adulthood. The present study addresses these gaps by examining the association between EPA’s RSEI-modeled industrial air toxicant exposure and cognitive impairment among respondents in middle- to late-adulthood across six waves of ACL data spanning 33 years (N = 3,581). Using growth curve modeling, I will estimate the individual-level trajectories of cognitive decline as respondents age and assess how toxicity-weighted concentration modifies these trajectories at different geographic buffers of exposure. Additionally, I will assess potential racial/ethnic and SES differences in these associations.

Author

• Isabella Bouklas, Duke University