Particulate
Matter and Mental Health
Outdoor air pollution is one of the biggest environmental threats to public health , causing an estimated 4 million premature deaths worldwide each year . One common component of air pollution is particulate matter ( PM ), which is a mixture of dust , chemicals , and liquid droplets . PM is primarily released into the air by industrial facilities that perform mixing and combustion . When people inhale PM in the air , it gets into their lungs and bloodstream , worsening existing lung diseases and even causing lung disease , heart disease , and lung cancer . Very fine particulate matter less then 2.5 micrometers in diameter – called PM2.5 – is especially dangerous . It can penetratee deep into the lungs and bloodstream
, eventually reaching many other organs . PM2.5 exposure can cause lung and heart diseases and is also associated with diabetes , cognitive impairment , and dementia . PM2.5 exposure also increases the chance of dying from COVID‐19 infection .
While the effects of long‐term PM2.5 exposure on physical health are well established , less is known about how it affects psychological and mental health . A recent study in the journal Environmental Health used mental health data from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing ( TILDA ), a nationally‐ has been collected every 2 years since 2009 and includes many health and wellnesss factors . It also includes
representative study of 8,504 adults age 50 and over in Ireland . Data on TILDA participants
information about participants ’ residential addresses throughout their lives . The study in Environmental Health matched TILDA participants ’ reported residential addresses from 1998 to 2014 with the average annual PM2.5 concentration at those addresses. It then assessed how that average annual PM2.5 exposure was related to participants ’ 2014 self‐reported mental health indicators in the TILDA : depression , anxiety , worry , stress , and overall quality of life . The study controlled for demographic and socioeconomic factors like age , sex , marital status , employment status , education , and health status to better attribute differences in mental health to PM2.5 exposure .
The study found that higher PM2.5 exposure was strongly associated with higher risk of depression and anxiety . PM2.5 exposure was not associated with differences in worry , stress , or overall quality of life . The authors speculate that different aspects of mental healthh may be differentially impacted by factors such as length of exposure , age at exposure , and exposure to other pollutants . While the association between PM2.5 exposure and depression and anxiety is striking , it is important to note that the study is not designed to determine if PM2.5 exposure directly caused depression and anxiety .