There is no doubt that air pollution takes a massive toll on people's health. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) links it to more people suffering from lung cancer and stroke. However, new research shows that in areas where air pollution is considered at its highest peak, there have been more cases of mental health disorders like bipolar disorder and depression.
In the United States alone, scientists have identified counties with the worst air quality, as indicated in the report by the Environmental Protection Agency. There is a record of an increase by 27% on patients suffering from bipolar disorder and a 6% increase with those suffering from depression. When compared to the national average, these are relatively high increases with a promise that things would only get worse.
Andrey Rzhetsky, the author of the study and geneticist from the University of Chicago, is very careful in expressing the results as they still continue to find proof to the link between mental illness and poor air quality. "However, we wanted to emphasize that a person exposed to air pollution on a daily basis may be slightly more at risk.
Similar studies linking air pollution to poor mental health have also been conducted in other countries in the world like South Korea, China, and even in London. Rzhetsky said that the study shows that several areas in the US where there are high levels of air pollutants have also showed a slow but steady increase of patients suffering from neurological disorders.
The mapping of the pollution along with the tracing of patients with mental health disorders started with the comparison of data collected from Denmark and the US. This is to help establish a clear link between air pollution and mental health disorders. The researcher and his team analyzed the EPA air, land, and water quality by county and looked at the insurance claims made concerning mental health disorders. They were after the rates of intense pollution overlap. The strongest overlap identified was between air pollution and bipolar disorder.
"The current findings add to the already existing knowledge linking air pollution to several mental health disorders," said Ioannis Bakolis, an epidemiologist of the King's College London, who is not in any way part of the study.
Yet he emphasized that the reliance on data collected on the countryside might be overlooking the other variables that come into play. It may be too conclusive to say that air pollution is the only reason that is causing people to suffer from bipolar disorder and depression.
"What happens in the brain is something that can be likened to that of inflammation," said Rzhetsky. "However, it remains to be seen in further studies to fully establish a clear link between the two."
