A study conducted revealed that air pollution may be linked with increased mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression in children.
Published in the Environmental Health Perspectives journal, the study found that an increase in anxiety and depression in children may be associated with short-term exposure to high ambient air pollution.
Researchers at the University of Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center examined microscopic particles known as PM2.5, which can lodge deep into the lungs and pass into other organs and the bloodstream and can cause irritation, inflammation and eventual respiratory problems.
Long term exposure can lead to cancer and heart attack. Prior to the study, the effects of PM2.5 on children's mental health has not yet been analyzed.
The study involved examining psychiatric patient visits in relation to the concentration of PM2.5 in their residential areas. Findings showed that increases in PM2.5 would often be followed by more psychiatric visits within the following few days.
The researchers found that same-day visits are often linked to schizophrenia while visits one or two days later are for adjustment disorder and suicidal thoughts. They also discovered that children in lower income areas or less access to healthcare were more vulnerable to the psychiatric effects of pollution increases, anxiety and suicidal thoughts in particular.
Patrick Ryan, a lead author of the study, said: "Collectively, these studies contribute to the growing body of evidence that exposure to air pollution during early life and childhood may contribute to depression, anxiety, and other mental health problems in adolescence."
Co-lead author Cole Brokamp pointed out that since children living in poverty experienced more negative effects from air pollution, it also proved that both the pollutant and neighborhood conditions integrate to have "synergistic effects on psychiatric symptom severity and frequency."
A similar British study conducted on teens in March demonstrated that teens living in cities are almost twice as likely to develop psychosis in adulthood than those residing in rural areas.
