Long-term exposure to air pollution linked to higher risk of depression & anxiety, study reveals

Long-term exposure to air pollution has been linked to a higher risk of depression and anxiety.

Researchers from Peking University in Beijing analysed the records of 389,000 people in the UK over 10 years.

Annual exposure to air pollution was estimated for each participant’s address including PM2.5 – tiny particles that are so small they can pass through the lungs into the bloodstream – and nitrogen dioxide, which is emitted by vehicles.

Over the course of a decade, 13,131 people were diagnosed with depression and 15,835 were diagnosed with anxiety.

Analysis showed those exposed to the highest amounts of air pollution were 16 per cent more likely to develop clinical depression and 11 per cent more likely to develop anxiety compared to those who had been exposed to the least.

Researchers from Peking University in Beijing found those who had been exposed to the highest amounts of air pollution were 16 per cent more likely to develop clinical depression and 11 per cent more likely to develop anxiety. Pictured above, Lambeth, London in January 2022, after the government advised Londoners to reduce their physical activity due to pollution across the capital

Writing in the journal Jama Psychiatry, the team said: ‘The associations may have important implications for policymaking in air pollution control.

‘Reductions in exposure to multiple air pollutants may alleviate the disease burden of depression and anxiety.’

They said an increase in risk was recorded even at pollution concentration levels below the UK air quality standard, suggesting stricter regulations are ‘essential’.

While further research is needed to explain what may cause the link, it could be that air pollution affects the central nervous system – made up of the brain and spinal cord – in several different ways, they added.

Commenting on the study Anna Hansell, professor of environmental epidemiology at the University of Leicester, said the study provides ‘further evidence’ of the potential impacts of air pollution on the brain.

‘This well-conducted new study found associations between air pollution and anxiety and depression in the UK, which experiences lower air pollution than many countries worldwide,’ she said.

‘The study findings suggest that reducing air pollution levels, even when low, potentially benefits mental health.

‘It provides further evidence in support of reducing current UK air pollution levels.’

It comes after the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a dire warning last year that almost all humans on earth are breathing unhealthy air.

According to the agency’s standards for air quality, 99 percent of humans live in an area with unacceptable pollution levels.

The organization warned that polluted air is putting nearly everyone’s health at risk long-term.

WHAT HAVE RECENT STUDIES SHOWN POLLUTION CAN DO TO OUR HEALTH AND BODIES?

CAUSE CHILDREN TO HAVE A LOW IQ: Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, found in May 2019 that children born to mothers who live in polluted areas have an IQ that is up to seven points lower than those living in places with cleaner air.

CAUSE CHILDREN TO HAVE POORER MEMORY: Researchers at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health found boys exposed to greater levels of PM2.5 in the womb performed worse on memory tests by the time they are 10.

DELAY THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN: Youngsters who live less than one-third of a mile away from busy roads are twice as likely to score lower on tests of communication skills in infancy, found researchers at Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health in April. They were also more likely to have poorer hand-eye coordination.

MAKE CHILDREN MORE ANXIOUS: University of Cincinnati scientists claimed pollution may alter the structure of children’s brains to make them more anxious. Their study of 14 youngsters found rates of anxiety was higher among those exposed to greater levels of pollution.

CUT YOUR CHILD’S LIFE SHORT: Children born today will lose nearly two years of their lives because of air pollution, according to a report by the US-based Health Effects Institute and the University of British Columbia in April 2019. UNICEF called for action on the back of the study.

RAISE A CHILD’S RISK OF AUTISM: Researchers at Monash University in Australia discovered youngsters living in highly polluted parts of Shanghai have a 86 per cent greater chance of developing ASD. Lead author Dr Yuming Guo said: ‘The developing brains of young children are more vulnerable to toxic exposures in the environment.’

CAUSE ASTHMA IN CHILDREN: Four million children around the world develop asthma each year because of road traffic pollution, a major study by academics at George Washington University estimated. Experts are divided as to what causes asthma – but exposure to pollution in childhood increases the risk by damaging the lungs.

MAKE CHILDREN FAT: University of Southern California experts found last November that 10 year olds who lived in polluted areas when they were babies are, on average, 2.2lbs (1kg), heavier than those who grew up around cleaner air. Nitrogen dioxide pollution could disrupt how well children burn fat, the scientists said.

LEAVE WOMEN INFERTILE EARLIER: Scientists at the University of Modena, Italy, claimed in May 2019 that they believe pollution speeds up ageing in women, just like smoking, meaning they run out of eggs faster. This was based on them finding almost two-thirds of women who have a low ‘reserve’ of eggs regularly inhaled toxic air.

RAISE THE RISK OF A MISCARRIAGE: University of Utah scientists found in January that pregnant women are 16 per cent more likely to suffer the heartbreak of a miscarriage if they live in areas of high pollution.

RAISE THE RISK OF BREAST CANCER: Scientists at the University of Stirling found six women working at the same bridge next to a busy road in the US got breast cancer within three years of each other. There was a one in 10,000 chance the cases were a coincidence, the study said. It suggested chemicals in the traffic fumes caused the cancer by shutting down the BRCA genes, which try to stop tumours growing.

DAMAGE A MAN’S SPERM: Brazilian scientists at the University of Sao Paulo found in March that mice exposed to toxic air had lower counts and worse quality sperm compared to those who had inhaled clean air since birth.

MAKE MEN LESS LIKELY TO GET SEXUALLY AROUSED: Scientists at Guangzhou Medical University in China found rats exposed to air pollution struggled to get sexually aroused. Scientists believe it may also affect men, as inhaling poisonous particles may trigger inflammation in blood vessels and starve the genitals of oxygen – affecting men’s ability to become sexually aroused.

MAKE MEN MORE LIKELY TO HAVE ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION: Men who live on main roads are more likely to have difficulty getting an erection due to exposure to pollution, a Guangzhou University in China study suggested in February. Toxic fumes reduced blood flow to the genitals, tests on rats showed, putting them at risk of developing erectile dysfunction.

RAISE THE RISK OF PSYCHOSIS: In March, King’s College London scientists linked toxic air to intense paranoia and hearing voices in young people for the first time. They said uncovering exactly how pollution may lead to psychosis should be an ‘urgent health priority’.

MAKE YOU DEPRESSED: Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers found in January that that the more polluted the air, the sadder we are. Their study was based on analysing social media users in China alongside the average daily PM2.5 concentration and weather data where they lived.

CAUSE DEMENTIA: Air pollution could be responsible for 60,000 cases of dementia in the UK, researchers from King’s College London and St George’s, University of London, calculated last September. Tiny pollutants breathed deep into the lungs and enter the blood stream, where they may travel into the brain and cause inflammation – a problem which may trigger dementia.

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk