May 28, 2024

expert reaction to study of air and noise pollution exposure in early life and mental health in adolescence and young adulthood

A study published in JAMA Network Open looks at pollution exposure and mental health in young people. 

Prof Martin Clift, Professor of Biomedical Sciences, Swansea University, said:

“The paper from Newbury and colleagues further highlights the need to consider the health consequences of exposure to different forms of pollution (e.g., air and noise) beyond that of the (known) physical nature. It focusses upon the important topic of how our environment, over time can impact our mental health. As noted by the authors, this is an area that has received a lot of recent attention, yet there remains a large void of knowledge. The paper itself is well structured, utilising a pre-existing cohort group and data linkage sets. It highlights that some of the most dominant air pollutants (NO2 and PM2.5) can impact different mental health diagnoses, but that time-of-life is particularly important as to how each individual air pollutant may impact this diagnosis. Notably, it highlights the impact of noise pollution upon adolescents. This form of analysis and understanding is limited throughout the field, and so can be considered an important finding in this context. Whilst the manuscript shows the importance of assessing multiple pollutants upon the mental health and wellbeing of individuals over their life course, especially the early years and in adolescence, it does highlight the fact that the study has a large number of experimental limitations, which detract from the overall research impact. Notably, the subject group was not overly representative of the population as a whole. Particularly overlooking urban settings, and lower-income countries; specific demographics of interest concerning the (physical) health impacts of air pollutants. Thus, whilst the findings are interesting to the wider field, the important point of this paper is that it promotes further the need to understand the impact of exposure to different forms of pollution, over time, at different stages of human development, and beyond just the physical risks that air pollution pose to humans.”

‘Air and Noise Pollution Exposure in Early Life and Mental Health From Adolescence to Young Adulthood’ by Joanne Newbury et al. was published in JAMA Network Open at 16:00 UK time on Tuesday 28 May.

DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.12169

Declared interests

Prof Martin Clift: I declare no conflicts of interest. I am a full member of the UK Govermental Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants (COMEAP). I receive funding from UKRI (NERC, MRC), UKHSA and The COLT Foundation for research into the human health effects following exposure to air pollutants.