The effects of air pollution on individual psychological distress

Abstract

This study is the first of its kind to utilize longitudinal, nationally representative panel data from the United States to assess the relationship between exposure to air pollution and reports of psychological distress. Using annual-average measures of air pollution in respondents’ census blocks of residence we find that over the period 1999 to 2011 particulate matter 2.5 is significantly associated with increased psychological distress; this association remains even after controlling for a robust set of demographic, socioeconomic, and health-related covariates. This study suggests that public health efforts to reduce the personal and societal costs of mental illness should consider addressing not only individual characteristics and factors in the social environment, but also underexplored facets of the physical environment such as air pollution.

A two-stage approach to identifying and validating modifiable factors for the prevention of depression

“…Environmental factors such as pollution and exposure to natural environment showed initial associations with depression-risk and protective effects, respectively-that did not persist after adjusting for sociodemographic factors, and were thus not tested in the MR framework. While these unadjusted findings were in line with growing evidence 40 , it may be that environmental exposures exert stronger influences earlier in development 41 , or shape lifetime mental health risk rather than incident cases in a relatively short follow-up period. In addition, sub-features of the natural environment (e.g., tree versus grass coverage) have shown divergent effects on mental health risk 42 , requiring more nuanced study than possible here.…”

Concern over health effects of air pollution is associated to NO2 in seven European cities

“…Because of the modifiable areal unit problem (Fotheringham and Wong 1991) the association between modelled air pollution at home and levels of concern over cities may not be transferable to other spatial scales, therefore we also did an individual level analysis. NO 2 and PM 2.5 have both been associated to reported individual annoyance to air pollution in previous studies (Fernandez-Somoano et al 2015;Heinrich et al 2005;Oglesby et al 2000;Persson et al 2007;Rotko et al 2002;Sass et al 2017). As in previous studies, modelled air pollution in our study cannot fully explain concern over health effects of air pollution, showing only a low or medium correlation.…”

Analysis of Indicators of Quality of Life Due to Air Pollution in Slavonski Brod, Croatia

“…Most past research studies on the health repercussions of air pollution has focused on adverse respiratory and cardiovascular disease outcomes. Only a handful of studies have examined the association of air pollution with psychological health, despite growing evidence elucidating possible mechanisms to support such a relationship [11].…”

“…Many of various research studies are speaking to the same fact, that air pollution impairs the psychological state of people in the form of dissatisfaction in numerous areas of social and health aspects of human functioning [10], [12], [14], [15]. Besides, more precisely and more in this direction of thinking, there are some animal (e.g., rodent and feral dog) and human studies, which results are suggesting that air pollution exposure may lead to neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, cerebrovascular damage, and neurodegenerative pathology via several cellular and molecular pathways [11], [13].…”