Air Pollution Linked to Anxiety, Increased Stroke Risk

Symptoms of clinically meaningful anxiety are increased by exposure to fine particulate air pollution, regardless of the presence of major comorbid conditions, results of a large observational study indicate.

The results suggest that fine particulate air pollution increases the risk for high anxiety symptoms by 12% to 15%, with the association stronger with exposure in the previous 1 to 3 months.

“Our study suggests that higher exposure to fine particulate matter, especially higher recent exposure, is associated with an increased risk of high symptoms of anxiety,” the investigators, led by Melinda Power, ScD, postdoctoral fellow in epidemiology, John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, in Baltimore, Maryland, write.