Air pollution in Delhi hit a record high on Sunday, with the overall air quality index (AQI) in the national capital touching 461. As the air quality remained in the ‘severe’ category, it soared to 500 in the Wazirpur area and crossed the 490 mark in Noida, according to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data. On Monday, Delhi’s AQI was recorded around 450.
An AQI above 400 falls into the “severe” category. So is this high level of air pollution affecting your mental health?
Although air pollution is known to cause respiratory problems and cardiovascular disease, it is also associated with higher levels of stress, psychological distress, an increased risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, and depression.
Several researches and studies have been conducted to understand the link between air pollution and psychiatric disorders.
AND study published in the ‘Journal of Environmental Economics and Management’ revealed that “PM2.5 exposure has a differential impact on different mental health conditions, with depression and stress being more sensitive to changes in PM2.5 levels compared to anxiety.”
“Heterogeneous Effect”
The study also suggested a “heterogeneous effect” of air pollution (PM2.5) across different age and gender groups on mental health.
Heterogeneous effects revealed that different mental health conditions and age groups have different levels of air pollution impact.
The results showed that people under the age of 18 “are the least mentally affected by the change in PM2.5 concentration”.
Meanwhile, individuals aged 18-65 were most affected by the increase in PM2.5 concentration.
“For individuals over 65, the estimated impact of PM2.5 on depression was positive but not statistically significant,” he added.
He further claimed that air pollution associated with depression and stress showed highly statistically significant results.
“All categories of conditions were not statistically significant with the exception of stress, where an increase of 1 unit of PM2.5 concentration in the county increased the incidence of stress in this population by 1.7,” he added.
Moreover, depression, anxiety, and stress showed stronger effects in working-age adults than in the general population.
“New Evidence on the Effects of Air Pollutants on Mental Health”
The European Environment Agency has said there is a link between exposure to air pollution and the risk of mental illness.
“Depression and cognitive impairment are particularly possible, but self-harm, suicide, anxiety and other effects are also a risk,” he added.
Citing several other studies, the agency said long-term exposure to air pollution is also linked to a progressive decline in mental function and a worsening of the development of other diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease.
It also noted that exposure to traffic-related air pollution during childhood and adolescence results in higher levels of generalized anxiety disorder in teenagers.
Another study claimed to find a strong association between postnatal exposure to PM2.5 in the first year of life and a modest association in the second year with autism spectrum disorder.
