Pollution 'damaging' intelligence

Pollution could affect intelligence of one in 10 British children

Pollution and poor land quality is said to be reducing the intelligence of millions of people throughout the world.

Research by a scientist at London University, Dr Christopher Williams, has suggested pollutants such as lead affects the intelligence of one in 10 children in Britain, but up to 90% in some African countries.

Dr Williams told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that in considering the environment, a lot of attention was paid to cancer and respiratory disease "because you can put them under a microscope and see what's happening.

"You can't put an IQ loss under a mircroscope and see what's happening.

"As policy-makers we should be saying: give the difficult science a bit more of a chance because there is not so much of it around and perhaps we ought to put a bit more funding in."

Dr Williams' findings are derived from compiling hundreds of studies carried out in recent decades, which had not been put together.

For example, in the US, 17% of children were said to have lead levels affecting their intelligence. A further study showed 5% of US babies had exposure to toxic PCBs that affected intelligence. But it was not known if the same children were involved.

"We know very little about the combined effects of these things," said Dr Williams.

Dr David Wray, head of the Medical Research Council's Neuro-Toxology Unit, told the Today programme that Dr Williams had done a useful service by drawing attention to the underestimated risk of damage to the brain.

"Perhaps his book rather overstates the case a bit, but it's a very good argument in favour of considering the nervous system, which is very important because it limits how people can perform in their lives."

He doubted that one in 10 children were affected by lead right across the country, in urban and rural areas.

But such a percentage might be found among children in poor urban areas across Europe.