Breathing in air with high levels of pollution worsens a range of serious mental health conditions, such as schizophrenia, depression, and anxiety disorders, according to emerging research.

A 2026 study, published in the journal Environmental Research, reviewed 25 existing studies on air pollution’s impact on anxiety disorders and found that while long-term exposure is the most dangerous, even short-term exposures worsen anxiety disorders.

The finer the air pollutants, the higher the danger, according to a 2023 study published in Environment International involving over 1.7 million people in Rome, Italy.

“Long-term exposure to ambient air pollution, especially fine and ultra-fine particles, was associated with increased risks of schizophrenia spectrum disorder, depression, and anxiety disorders,” the 2023 study found.

Currently, nearly 99% of the world’s population breathes in air exceeding the World Health Organization’s (WHO) clean air guidelines.

While air pollution’s impact on depression is reasonably well known, more is being understood about its impact on other mental health disorders. Research on a link between air pollution and bipolar disorder has currently produced mixed results.

“A growing evidence base links exposure to air pollution to a variety of mental health disorders, including anxiety, depression, and schizophrenia, as well as risk for suicide. Evidence also points towards the risk being higher for more disadvantaged communities,” said Pallavi Pant, an environmental health scientist at Health Effects Institute (HEI).

Pant cautioned that this area of research is currently limited but very active.

Also read: More Evidence That Air Pollution is Linked to Higher Risk of Dementia

Air pollution’s role in worsening mental health disorders

Air pollution kills an estimated 8.1 million people every year, according to the State of Global Air Report 2024, which is brought out annually by HEI in collaboration with the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation’s (IHME) Global Burden of Disease project.

The links between high levels of air pollution and higher rates of dementia and other cognitive impairment, post-partum depression, and even schizophrenia relapse were established by a study in World Psychiatry published in 2024.

“Higher levels of specific air pollutants were associated with a higher risk of dementia or cognitive impairment, cognitive disorders, post-partum depression (class II), and schizophrenia relapse,” according to the 2024 study, which looked at 32 existing global studies on air pollution and mental health disorders.

Higher temperatures also affect mental health. “Temperature increase was associated with an increase in suicidal behaviour, suicide or mental disorders-related mortality; and hospital access due to suicidal behaviour or mental disorders, or mental disorders only,” the 2024 study noted.

“What happens when high temperatures and poor air quality intersect? That is an area that remains understudied, Pant said.

The biological mechanisms of how air pollution affects mental health disorders are still not well understood, “but evidence points towards inflammation playing an active role,” Pant explained.

“Some studies also indicate greater risks for children and adolescents- exposure during critical windows of development, including development of the brain, can increase the risk of psychiatric disorders,” she added.

Also read: Air Pollution ‘Kills a Child Every Minute’

Disadvantaged communities hit hardest

A report released last year by the US non-profit advocacy group, Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania, looked at the role physicians can play in low-income neighbourhoods where air pollution levels tend to be worse, and the mental and emotional toll on communities is high.

“Physicians can work as advocates for their patients’ health. They can use their influence as trusted professionals to promote policies that will decrease air pollution and increase access to mental health resources,” said Laura Dagley, a nurse who wrote the report.

“We have learned from research that air pollution itself has physiological impacts on the brain and other organs in the body, but what I learned from my time working with these communities is the mental health implications from the erosion of their sense of place and home,” Dagley added.

 “Many felt they were living in sacrifice zones, or that their lives were not considered important enough by industry or politicians to care about the health impacts.”

Such communities often also tend to have poorer access to resources.

Limited research from the global south

The world’s most polluted countries are in the developing world, particularly in Asia and Africa, but evidence about the health impact is sparse from these regions.

Most studies are from high-income countries in North America, Western Europe, and increasingly, from China and other Asian countries. Studies from Africa and South Asia are still relatively scarce, Pant said.

Dagley said that physicians can also play a role in filling this data gap: “A lot of the research we have showing mental health impacts has come from medical records, combined with air pollution data.”

Image Credits: Unsplash, State of the Global Air report 2025, IQAir.