Date Time Air pollution poses risk to thinking skills Exposure to air pollution in childhood is linked to a decline in thinking skills in later life, a study suggests. A greater exposure to air pollution at the very start of life was associated with a detrimental effect on people’s cognitive skills up to 60 years later, the research found. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh tested the general intelligence of more than 500 people aged approximately 70 years using a test they had all completed at the age of 11 years. The participants then repeated the same test at the ages of 76 and 79 years.