Air pollution, especially from fires and farming, linked to dementia

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2023-08-15 01:00

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Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution may increase the risk of dementia in older people, according to international researchers who say the link is strongest for air pollution caused by wildfires and agriculture. The team used survey data collected every two years from nearly 30,000 people in the US over the course of about a decade. 15% of the cohort developed dementia during that time, and the researchers say those who were exposed to more PM2.5 in their neighbourhood were more likely to develop the condition. They say this builds on increasing evidence elsewhere of a link between air pollution and dementia, and more research is needed to see how this might be addressed.

Media release

From: JAMA

About The Study: In this nationally representative study, higher residential levels of fine particulate matter were associated with greater rates of incident dementia, especially for fine particulate matter generated by agriculture and wildfires. These findings also indicate that intervening on key emission sources might have value, although more research is needed to confirm these findings.

Authors: Boya Zhang, Ph.D., of the University of Michigan School of Public Health in Ann Arbor, is the corresponding author.

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Journal/
conference: JAMA Internal Medicine

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: University of Michigan, USA

Funder: The Health and Retirement Study was funded by grant U01 AG009740 from the National Institute on Aging and the Social Security Administration and performed at the Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan. This work was supported by grants R01ES028694 and R01AG030153 from the National Institutes for Environmental Health Sciences and Aging.

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