Those living in areas deemed high-pollution zones were more likely to suffer with poor mental health, according to research
(Picture: PA Wire)Those living in a polluted areas are more at risk of poor mental health, warns a new study.
Researchers have found links between UK air pollution and increased risks of depression and anxiety.
They also found those who live with long-term exposure, even at low levels of air pollution, risk changes to their mental health, too.
What the study found on air pollution and mental health
The universities of Oxford, Beijing, and Imperial College London researched the risk of pollution increasing depression and anxiety.
Around 389,185 UK adults were included in the research and were analysed over 11 years.
They found that those living in areas deemed high-pollution zones were more likely to suffer with poor mental health, which was evident even when air quality was within official limits.
Data from the UK Biobank further investigated the effect of air pollution, which included PM2.5 and PM10, nitrogen dioxide, and nitric oxide.
They found 13,131 cases of depression and 15,835 of anxiety were identified.
The study, which was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Psychiatry, said the findings means a greater need for stricter standards and regulations when it comes to air-pollution control.
Dr Ian Mudway, a lecturer at Imperial College London, who was not part of the research team, said rates of mental-health disorders were known to be higher in urban areas.
Air-quality guideline
A previous study revealed that an increase in nitrogen dioxide, produced by diesel vehicles, increased the risk of mental-health disorders by 39 per cent.
It also found that tiny particle pollution found among tyre dust, burning fuels, and brakes increased the risk by 18 per cent.
Ministers are currently facing major criticism after passing a new legally binding air-quality guideline allowing more than double the levels of fine-particulate matter (PM.2.5) than targets set by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The new legislation was approved this week by the peers, allowing a maximum annual mean concentration of 12 micrograms per cubic metre by 2028, despite the WHO’s recent review to have it at five micrograms.
The study researchers said they hoped policymakers would take their findings into account.
They wrote: “Considering that many countries’ air-quality standards are still well above the latest World Health Organisation global air-quality guidelines 2021, stricter standards or regulations for air-pollution control should be implemented in the future policy making.”
