Ambient air pollution exposure associated with depression, anxiety
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Long-term joint exposure to multiple air pollutants at low concentrations may be associated with an increased risk of depression and anxiety, according to a study published in JAMA Psychiatry.
“Exposure response curves showed nonlinear associations, with steeper slopes at lower levels and plateauing trends at higher exposure,” Teng Yang, BD, of Peking University School of Public Health in Beijing, and colleagues wrote. “Considering that many countries’ air quality standards are still well above the latest World Health Organization global air quality guidelines 2021, stricter standards or regulations for air pollution control should be implemented in the future policy making.”
Yang and colleagues conducted a population-based cohort study using data from the U.K. Biobank. A total of 389,185 participants who had never been diagnosed with depression or anxiety were selected for the study between March 13, 2006, and Oct. 1, 2010.
During the follow-up period, which was a median of 10.9 years, 13,131 participants were diagnosed with depression, and 15,835 were diagnosed with anxiety. The occurrence of depression or anxiety was determined using ICD-10 codes F32-F33 and F40-F48, respectively.
By examining different concentrations of air pollutants, the researchers found that the exposure response curves were nonlinear, with steeper sloped at lower concentrations and a plateau at higher exposure.
Sociodemographic factors, socioeconomic status and local environmental exposure were all collected at baseline for subgroup analysis.
The researchers found that male patients were at higher risk for anxiety than female patients.
“These findings may fill the gap on the associations between air pollution exposure and mental health at air pollution concentrations below the annual values in U.K. air quality standards,” Yang and colleagues wrote. “Furthermore, the nonlinear exposure-response curves suggested that the risk of incident depression and anxiety tended to be steeper at lower air pollution levels and plateauing at higher exposures, which have important implications for policy making in air pollution control.”
Disclosures: