New Delhi, July 10 || Exposure to lead during pregnancy and early childhood may speed up the rate at which children forget information, potentially impairing learning and cognitive development, according to a new study.
The study employed a well-established cognitive test known as the delayed matching-to-sample task to assess memory performance in children aged 6 to 8, news agency reported.
Researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, US, applied a novel statistical model -- the nonlinear modified power function -- which had previously been used in animal and human studies but is now being adapted for environmental health research.
The study found that higher blood lead levels between the ages of 4 and 6 were significantly associated with faster rates of forgetting, even at relatively low levels of exposure, with a median blood lead level of approximately 1.7 micrograms per decilitre.
The findings, published in the journal Science Advances, suggest that even low-level lead exposure can compromise critical cognitive functions during early childhood.