PI: Youssef Oulhote, PhD
Abstract
Neurodevelopmental impairments in childhood result in significant economic and lifetime costs in the form of compromised health, academic achievement, occupational attainment, and income. While there is convincing evidence that environmental pollution may affect cognitive abilities in children, leading to poor academic performance and future educational attainment, most investigations on children in Sub-Saharan African countries focused on child mortality, low birth weight, and respiratory illnesses in relation to environmental pollution. The lack of reliable data on children’s neurodevelopment and their environmental exposures impedes the formation of new human capital in African countries and undermines prospects for future development. Additionally, alternative methods for conducting biomonitoring exposure studies in low resource settings are highly needed. This project will leverage our previous collaborations in Kigali, Rwanda to characterize exposure levels to noise, air pollutants, and trace metals and their determinants in ~700 children from 50 schools in Kigali. We will also conduct a battery of behavioral and cognitive tests using the strengths and difficulties questionnaire and the NIH toolbox and quantify the associations between exposures to a mixture of air pollutants, metals, and noise and these cognitive and behavioral scores. The results from this project will support much needed public health policy and regulatory decisions in Rwanda.