AuscandocAir pollution and #braindamage: what the science says https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00053-y “Study after study has shown that higher levels of #airpollution are correlated with increased risks of #dementia, as well as higher rates of #depression, #anxiety and #psychosis. Researchers have also found links to neurodevelopmental conditions, such as #autism, and #cognitivedeficits in children”
“The WHO estimates that 99% of the world’s population is exposed to pollution above recommended levels, with many cities in low- and middle-income countries having particularly bad #airquality. But it’s not just megacities, such as Mexico City and Delhi, where people face risks. “Even low-level exposure that people think is safe enough for public health is doing something at the brain level,”
“A 2023 analysis of more than 389,000 participants in the UK Biobank showed that long-term exposure to airborne particulate matter, nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide correlated with higher levels of depression and anxiety..
Last month, a 16-year study of more than 200,000 residents in Scotland found that higher cumulative nitrogen dioxide exposure was associated with increased hospital admissions for mental-health and behavioural disorders”
“Meanwhile, studies in France, the United States and China have documented that in regions where air quality has improved, there are decreased rates of dementia, cognitive decline and depression in older populations7.
Observational studies have also linked air pollution to structural changes in the brain, such as reduced hippocampal volume, that are consistent with heightened dementia risk in older adults”