Superfund Research Program
July 2022
Prenatal exposure to chemical mixtures worsens working memory in adolescents, according to research by the Harvard School of Public Health SRP Center. The researchers evaluated prenatal exposure to individual chemicals and their mixture in relation to working memory — the ability to keep information in one’s mind and mentally manipulate it — among adolescents living near a Superfund site in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The team found worse verbal working memory among adolescents with higher exposure to chemicals found at the site, such as manganese.
Read more in the NIEHS Environmental Factor Newsletter.