Air Pollution Overexposure Could Cause Anxiety and Depression, Study Shows

According to a recent study, excessive exposure to air pollution might lead to depression and anxiety.

Overexposure to Air Pollution

People who breathe contaminated air undergo alterations in the emotional control centers of their brains, which increases their risk of developing anxiety and depression compared to people who breathe clean air.

The interdisciplinary team examined more than 100 papers on the impact of outdoor air pollution on human mental health and areas of the brain that control emotions, including both animal and human studies. The hippocampus, amygdala, and prefrontal cortex were the three key areas of the brain on which the team concentrated.

In their review, 73% of the researchers noted that exposure to higher-than-normal levels of air pollution resulted in worsening mental health symptoms and behaviors in both people and animals like rats. Some exposures that resulted in adverse effects happened at air pollution levels that are today regarded as "safe" by the criteria of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Additionally, the team found that individuals exposed to higher levels of air pollution experienced significant physical and functional alterations in the emotion-regulation brain areas in 95% of studies looking at the impact on the brain.

The majority of this research discovered that being exposed to high amounts of air pollution is linked to increased inflammation and modifications in the control of neurotransmitters, the chemical messengers of the brain.

These are the key findings of a systematic review that Clara Zundel, a postdoctoral research fellow in Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences at Wayne State University, and her colleagues recently published in the journal NeuroToxicology.

Pollution and Mental Health

For many years, there has been much research on the physical health impacts of exposure to air pollution, including asthma and respiratory problems.

But it has only been within the last ten years or so that scientists have started to comprehend how air pollution might impact the brain. Small air pollutants, such as ultrafine particles via vehicle exhaust, have been proven in studies to have an impact on the brain, either directly by entering the brain through the nose or indirectly by inducing inflammation and altered immunological responses in the body, which can then enter the brain.

Researchers are also increasingly pointing to the link between air pollution and its detrimental consequences on mental health.

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Unfortunately, research indicates that as climate change worsens and carbon emissions are left unchecked, air pollution will only become worse.

This highlights the urgent need for additional study into the biological psychiatric and non-respiratory health impacts of exposure to air pollution. For instance, little is yet known about the neurobiological pathways by which air pollution raises the likelihood of mental health disorders.