Air Pollution & Teen Psychotic Events

A quick snippet. Exposure to more air pollution was found to be associated with a higher likelihood of a psychotic event in teens. (JAMA Psychiatry).

Study in the UK of over 2000 children, followed from birth to age 18, watched the quality of air at their home addresses with the frequency of associated adolescent psychotic experiences.

There was an increased in the odds of mental health events if pollutants in air were present — specifically nitrogen dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter <2.5 µm and <10 µm in diameter.

Specific questions re: delusions, hallucinations, and assessed responses to the ‘7-hallucination/delusion’ items designed for the study were carefully noted.