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PM 2.5

Evidence mounts linking air pollution to Parkinson’s disease

Evidence mounts linking air pollution to Parkinson’s disease

By Grace van Deelen

New research adds to evidence that people living in areas with high air pollution are at a higher risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, a progressive neurological disorder.

The research found a nationwide association between incidents of Parkinson’s and annual average particulate matter air pollution, also known as PM 2.5. Researchers found that at the highest annual exposure level, participants were 25% more likely to develop Parkinson’s disease, compared to those with the lowest exposure.

The findings are expected to be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s meeting in April and published in the journal Neurology. The work was funded by grants from the US Department of Defense, the National Institutes of Health National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.

“It’s a very compelling story that we see,” said Brittany Krzyzanowski, a scientist at the Barrow Neurological Institute and lead author on the new study.

Researchers used data from over 22 million Americans, 83,674 of whom had reported a Parkinson’s diagnosis. They analyzed that data alongside geographical data showing the amount of PM 2.5 in the atmosphere. PM 2.5 is a type of air pollution that comes from vehicle exhaust, forest and grass fires, and other industrial processes, meaning that communities near highways and industrial areas are most likely to have high exposure.

The link between the disease and PM 2.5 has been suggested in numerous other studies, including a 2022 review of existing research that found air pollution to be “an emerging risk factor in the development of Parkinson’s disease.”

As well, a 2018 study of more than 2 million Ontario adults found that long-term exposure to PM 2.5 was associated with a 4% increase in instances of Parkinson’s, while a 2020 study of 63 million US adults found an association between PM 2.5 exposure and hospitalization for Parkinson’s.

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More evidence linking air pollution to mental health problems, study finds

By Shannon Kelleher

Long-term exposure to a cocktail of common air pollutants, even at low levels, is associated with increased risk for depression and anxiety, according to a new study published this week.

The study, which followed more than 389,000 adults in the UK for more than a decade, adds to growing research examining the relationship between air quality and mental health, and supports calls from health and environmental advocates for urgent action to address air pollution.

People living in areas where the air contains higher levels of nitrogen dioxide and nitrogen oxides and other harmful particulate matter were at greater risk for being diagnosed with depression or anxiety over the course of the study. The nitrogen contaminants primarily get into the air from the burning of fuel, including from emissions produced by vehicles and power plants.

Notably, the results pointed to elevated anxiety and depression risk even at levels of air pollution considered acceptable by UK air quality standards, according to the study, which was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Psychiatry,

“Our findings warrant that more strict air quality standards on a globe scale should be adopted based on the new [World Health Organization (WHO)] guidelines to alleviate the disease burden of depression and anxiety related to multiple air pollutants,” Jing Huang and Guoxing Li, researchers at the Peking University Health Science Center in China and two authors of the study, said in an email to The New Lede.

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© Environmental Working Group .