ISLAMABAD, FEB 25(Online): A recent study has concluded that exposure to air pollution, particularly during the first 10 years of life, could play a significant role in the development of psychiatric disorders. However, not everyone is convinced by the data.<\/p>\n
The study, which appears in PLOS Biology, used data from the United States and Denmark to uncover the possible link between environmental pollution and psychiatric disorders.<\/p>\n
The new research found that rates of both bipolar disorder and depression were higher among those living in areas of poor air quality.<\/p>\n
The researchers also concluded that Danish people who lived in polluted areas during their first decade of life were more than twice as likely to have personality disorders and schizophrenia.<\/p>\n
Air pollution research<\/p>\n
To reach their conclusion, the researchers drew from two large datasets. The pollution information for the U.S. came from the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) air quality measurements, while for Denmark; the researchers looked at the national pollution register.<\/p>\n
The EPA tracks 87 different air quality measurements. Although the Danish pollution register monitors fewer measurements, they have a higher spatial resolution.<\/p>\n
The team then looked at healthcare data. For the U.S., they accessed a health insurance database that included claims that more than 151 million individuals made between 2003 and 2013.<\/p>\n
For Denmark, they used data for all of the residents who were born in the country between 1979 and 2002 and were living in Denmark on their 10th birthday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD, FEB 25(Online): A recent study has concluded that exposure to air pollution, particularly during the first 10 years of life, could play a significant role in the development of psychiatric disorders. However, not everyone is convinced by the data. The study, which appears in […]<\/p>\n
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