Study finds air pollution can cause depression and anxiety

POLLUTION

Research with animals and human organs indicates that the association can be explained by neural inflammation caused by polluting substances.

A study carried out in the United Kingdom shows that the effects of pollution on health can go beyond lung diseases. Evidence that particles generated by industrial activities and the burning of fossil fuels affect the brain is growing.

Residents of urban areas, which have continuous exposure to pollution, are being affected with depression and anxiety. Researches with animals and in human organs indicate that the association can be explained by neural inflammation provoked by polluting substances.

A recent study, published in the journal Jama Psychiatry, used information from 400,000 people from a UK population bank to investigate the influence of pollution on mental health. When crossing cases of depression and anxiety with the level of exposure to pollutants in the place of residence of the participants, the researchers found a 15% increase in the probability of being diagnosed with these problems.

“Individually, it may seem like a small amount, but in population terms, it’s a lot,” notes Joseph Hayes, a psychiatrist and professor at University College London, who was not involved in the study.

Hayes has been researching for some years the influence of pollution on mental illness and, when reviewing studies published between 1974 and 2017, found a relationship between long-term exposure to fine particles suspended in the air with a diameter of less than 2.5 microns (PM2.5) and increased risk of depression and anxiety.

“In addition, our results found associations between short-term exposure to 10-micron particles (PM10) and suicide risk,” he says.

Particulate matter (PM) is a set of toxic residues that are suspended in the air and includes solid, liquid and gaseous substances. There are two categories, depending on size: particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers, most commonly found in fog and smoke, and between 2.5 and 10 micrometers, common in regions close to industries. Vehicles are also important sources of PMs due to fossil fuels.

Based on evidence on the various risks associated with these pollutants, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a maximum exposure level to PM of 2.5 and 10 micrograms per cubic meter. As a comparison, this is almost 10 times less than what is registered in Nepal (99.73), the first place in a ranking of the Global Burden of Disease Study, 2017. Brazil appears in position 147, with an average of 12, 71 micrograms per cubic meter.

With information from Correio Braziliense*

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