In light of thick smog choking the nation's capital, France shut down half of the traffic in Paris this week in hopes of mitigating surmounting toxins and pollutants in the air, caused as a byproduct of motor vehicles. But in the process of untarnishing the facade of the "City of Lights" it appears that French officials may also be saving the next generation of French citizens as well.
After city mayor Anne Hidalgo requested that French authorities take drastic measures in a bid to drive down pollution in the nation's capital, French officials this weekend called for a temporary ban on motor vehicles that will take place come Monday. While only temporary, the emergency measure that will come into action Monday Mar. 23 will ban half of the drivers in northern France from taking to the streets of Paris, at least for a couple of days.
"I am delighted the state has agreed to put in place a partial driving ban on Monday, which I have been requesting for several days" Hidalgo says.
On Saturday, air quality control monitors predicted that dangerous particulates in the air could reach toxic, even carcinogenic, levels in the blood system if pollution were not combated immediately. And so French authorities answered their call, potentially helping unborn French citizens in the process too.
In a new study published this week in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, researchers with with the Institute for the Developing Mind at the Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) and Columbia University have discovered that some of these particulates, namely neurotoxic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), may cause severe neurological damage if exposed in-utero. A common byproduct of smoke, the burning of fossil fuels, and even automobile emissions, PAH is a ubiquitous pollutant found in almost all air circulating throughout large cities. And because of its ability to pass directly through the placenta, researchers feared that the implications on unborn fetuses may be worse than on children or adults.
Looking into the developmental defects associated with early exposure to PAH, the researchers led by Dr. Bradley S. Peterson with CHLA were able to utilize MRI technology to see exactly what effects the hydrocarbons had on the structure of the brain. And while the results varied, the researchers found overwhelming evidence that linked exposure to PAH with reduced IQ, neurodevelopment delays, and even behavioral disorders at an older age.
"This is the largest MRI study to date of how early life exposure to air pollutants, specifically PAH, affect the developing mind" Peterson says. "Our findings suggest that PAH are contributors to ADHD and other behavioral problems due to the pollutants' disruptive effects on early brain development."
So while the French government may have been looking at removing the toxic haze over Paris in the short run, they may have saved an entire generation of Parisians in the process. Perhaps now other cities will reconsider their position on pollutants and take a stand like the French.
