Air pollution may harm mental health, says study

(Representational image)

New Delhi: Discovering a link between toxic air and psychological distress, a study has warned that air pollution can trigger mental health issues.

As per researchers, as particulate matter in the air increases, so does its impact on mental health.

"This is really setting out a new trajectory around the health effects of air pollution," said Anjum Hajat, from the University of Washington in the US.

"The effects of air pollution on cardiovascular health and lung diseases like asthma are well established, but this area of brain health is a newer area of research," said Hajat.

Previous research has associated air pollution with heart disease, stroke, various cancers and even premature death.

Scientists have identified "social determinants" of physical and mental well-being, such as availability of healthy foods at local grocers, access to nature or neighbourhood safety.

Air pollution, too, has been associated with behaviour changes – spending less time outside, for instance, or leading a more sedentary lifestyle – that can be related to psychological distress or social isolation.

The study, published in the journal Health and Place, looked for a direct connection between toxic air and mental health, relying on some 6,000 respondents.

Researchers then merged an air pollution database with records corresponding to the neighbourhoods of each of the 6,000 survey participants.

The team zeroed in on measurements of fine particulate matter, a substance produced by car engines, fireplaces and wood stoves, and power plants fuelled by coal or natural gas.

The study found that the risk of psychological distress increased alongside the amount of fine particulate matter in the air.

Fine particulate matter (particles less than 2.5 micrometres in diameter) are considered more dangerous that larger particles since they can be easily inhaled and absorbed into the bloodstream.

The current safety standard for fine particulates, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency, is 12 microgrammes per cubic metre.

(With PTI inputs)