Poor air quality affects mental health in many ways, according to a new review of evidence published in the British journal of psychiatry.
Led by Professor Kam Bhui of the University of Oxford’s Department of Psychiatry, researchers from the BioAirNet program analyzed existing studies of the effects of both indoor and outdoor air pollution across the life course, from birth and pregnancy to adolescence and adulthood.
They found evidence that exposure to air pollutants can lead to depression, anxiety, psychoses and perhaps even neurocognitive disorders, such as dementia. There was also evidence that children and adolescents at critical stages of their mental development could be exposed to air pollution, putting them at risk for the most serious consequences and significant future mental health problems.
Additional risk factors included poor housing, overcrowding, poverty, a lack of green spaces, and individual social and psychological vulnerabilities, such as lack of access to support, caregivers, or safe spaces.
Professor Bhui said: “Air pollution and mental health are both major challenges facing the world now and in the years to come. This makes this area of research an essential public health priority.
“Our research shows that there is increasing evidence of links between poor air quality and poor mental health, as well as links to specific mental disorders.
“In particular, polluting airborne particles, including bioaerosols, are implicated. Particulate matter is part of a complex set of environmental risk factors, including geography, deprivation, biology and individual vulnerabilities.
“We need more research to understand these networks of causation and to explore some other critical knowledge gaps, such as the mechanisms by which particles matter and bioaerosols can cause and exacerbate health problems. Less research has been done on indoor air quality and how it affects health, and little specific about bioaerosols.
“We need better ways to measure pollution exposure and understand how climate change affects air pollution. We also advocate for more longitudinal studies to understand the effects on children and young people as they grow.”
Poor air quality has been linked to poorer physical health and the development of diseases, including some cancers, but until now little attention has been paid to the impact of air pollutants on mental health.
Professor Bhui added: “Adjusting exposure to poor indoor and outdoor air quality can reduce levels of ill health overall.
“But given the high levels of serious mental illness in places where air pollution is greatest, particularly in poorer and urban areas, and the links between cancer and serious mental illness, for example, there may be common causes and risk factors that need to be addressed. understood and addressed.”
More information:
Kamaldeep Bhui et al, Air quality and mental health: evidence, challenges and future directions, BJPsych opened (2023). DOI: 10.1192/bjo.2023.507
Quote: Poor air quality found to affect mental health in many ways (2023, July 6) Retrieved July 6, 2023 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-07-poor-air-quality-affect-mental.html
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