Nursery World - Air pollution link to childhood mental illness

Air pollution has been linked to childhood mental illness in a major study.

Better mental health could be seen in the young if air quality is improved, the authors claim.

Even at modest increments, higher exposure was associated with a greater number of psychiatric problems.

Air pollution increased the risk of children and adolescents receiving medication for at least one psychiatric diagnosis, according to the research, from Umeå University in Sweden and published in the peer-reviewed journal BMJ Open.

The risk rose nine per cent with a 10 microgram per cubic metre increased concentration of nitrogen dioxide, a toxic gas produced by diesel vehicles associated with respiratory and cardiovascular disease.

'The results can mean that a decreased concentration of air pollution, first and foremost traffic-related air pollution, may reduce psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents,' said researcher Anna Oudin, of the university's Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, and who led the study.

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