Association between exposure to air pollution and memory: the mediating effect of health

Aim Although extensive research has been conducted on the potential relationship between air pollution and residents’ health in China, and few studies examine the potential impact of air pollution in Chinese cities on cognition and its impact mechanism. Subject and methods Using nationally representative data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), this study discusses the potential impact of exposure to air pollution on Chinese residents’ memory and the mediating effect of health, thereby filling the gaps in the literature. The highlights of this study are as follows: (1) the use of a ventilation coefficient and environmental regulations as instrumental variables and (2) the use of a two-stage least squares (2SLS) model to solve the potential endogeneity problems caused by air pollution and memory, which may be mutually causal or fail to control more dependent variables. Results The findings revealed that exposure to air pollution might adversely affect memory. With other control variables unchanged, a 1-μg/m 3 increase in particulate matter with a diameter smaller than 2.5 μm (PM 2.5 ) decreased the memory score by 0.274 (95% CI: –0.361 to –0.188). The impact of air pollution on memory was partly indirect through physical rather than mental health. The mediating effect of self-rated health was −0.00667, which accounted for 2.430% of the total product. Conclusion This study provides suggestions for avoiding memory loss, maintaining health, and formulating policies based on changing air quality in the future.