In this 2018 literature review, the focus was on the association between air pollution and mental health, as scientific research had largely concentrated (up to that point) on the increased risk of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases due to poor air quality.
Published studies demonstrated that various air pollutants including fine particulate matter and nitrogen oxides could contribute to a worsened mental well-being. Moreover, available data indicated that exposure to ultrafine particles (PM2.5) could lead to the onset of depressive symptoms, inspiring our research group to develop the DeprAir project.
Studies up to 2018 examined different exposure durations to pollutants or did not always interpret results in light of confounding factors, such as the concurrent presence of medical conditions in evaluated subjects that could increase vulnerability to mood disturbances (e.g., endocrine or metabolic disorders), potentially linked to air pollution exposure themselves.