Air Pollution Could Also Affect Your Emotions And Everyday Life, Finds Study

A recent study published in the journal Nature Communications found that even brief exposure to high concentrations of PM (particulate matter) affected individual's selective attention and emotion recognition.

Air pollution, we all know causes many problems, including breathing issues and deteriorate healthy bones. But a new study now reveals that air pollution also becomes hurdle for a person's day to day activities, even when there is a short-term exposure.

How Was The Study Conducted?

The study analyzed data from cognitive tests completed by 26 participants before and after they were exposed to either high levels of PM using smoke from a candle or clean air for an house. As a result, it was noted that regardless if the participant breathed air normally or through the mouth, it did have negative affects on their cognitive functions. An affect in their ability to concentrate on tasks was also noted. The participants found it difficult to avoid distractions and behave in a socially appropriate way.

Participants exposed to air pollution were not as good at avoiding the distracting information, said Dr Thomas Faherty of the University of Birmingham, a co-author of the study. “So that means in daily life, you could get more distracted by things. Supermarket shopping is a good example … it might mean that you get more distracted by impulse buys when you’re walking along supermarket aisles because you’re not able to focus on your task goals.”

What Did The Study Find?

Apart from this, the study also found that participants performed worse on cognitive tests when it came to evaluating emotional recognition after they were exposed to PM. The participants could not perceive whether a face was fearful or happy. There are already existing studies that look at short-term air pollution and incidents of violent crime, especially in the US. The researcher suggests that there might be a link between the two, as air pollution could very well lead to emotional dysregulation.

The study however found that the participants' working memory was not affected, which meant that some brain functions are more resilient to short-term pollution than others.

Air Pollution Is A risk

Air pollution is one of the greatest environmental risk factors to public health globally. The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated that outdoor air pollution leads to around 4.2 million premature deaths a year worldwide. In total, it kills around 7 million people worldwide every year. As per WHO, 9 out of 10 people breathe air that contains high levels of PM.

As per the researchers of the study that new findings could have a significant societal and economic implications, including educational attainment and work productivity. Faherty said, "The study was done on a clinically healthy adult population, which means that they were of good health and had no clinical respiratory or neurological problems … certain other groups might be more vulnerable to effects."

“Everyone’s getting smarter as time goes on because we’ve eradicated things that kill us and also we have a lot better nutrition than we did even 20 years ago. You find that things like air pollution are more important as a kind of barrier to cognitive wellbeing or IQ … because everything else has kind of been eradicated.”