Environmental pollution and mental health: a narrative review of literature

Abstract

Pollutant agents are exponentially increasing in modern society since industrialization processes and technology are being developed worldwide. Impact of pollution on public health is well known but little has been described on the association between environmental pollutants and mental health. A literature search on PubMed and EMBASE has been conducted and 134 articles published on the issue of pollution and mental health have been included, cited, reviewed, and summarized. Emerging evidences have been collected on association between major environmental pollutants (air pollutants, heavy metals, ionizing radiation [IR], organophosphate pesticides, light pollution, noise pollution, environmental catastrophes) and various mental health disorders including anxiety, mood, and psychotic syndromes. Underlying pathogenesis includes direct and indirect effects of these agents on brain, respectively, due to their biological effect on human Central Nervous System or related to some levels of stress generated by the exposure to the pollutant agents over the time. Most of emerging evidences are still nonconclusive. Further studies should clarify how industrial production, the exploitation of certain resources, the proximity to waste and energy residues, noise, and the change in lifestyles are connected with psychological distress and mental health problems for the affected populations.

Urbanization and emerging mental health issues

“…Green spaces and access to blue spaces (sea, rivers, and lakes) are significantly associated to better self-perceived mental health as well as pollution and noise are related to higher prevalence of mental disorders due to direct neurotoxicity or indirect psychological stress. [16][17][18] This narrative mini-review aims to provide an up-to-date report on the emerging mental health issues in the urban settings and possible risk factors involved in the pathogenesis.…”

Effects of pollution on adolescent mental health: a systematic review protocol

“…hyperactivity and/or inattention at age 15). A subsequent narrative review of 134 articles relating to pollution and mental health by Ventriglio and colleagues [ 15 ] similarly included little on adolescent mental health. The review, which was not systematic, reported neurodevelopmental disorders (including ADHD and ASD) and cognitive deficits among children (generally younger than 10) exposed to air, light, or noise pollution; heavy metals; and/or pesticides.…”

“…The review, which was not systematic, reported neurodevelopmental disorders (including ADHD and ASD) and cognitive deficits among children (generally younger than 10) exposed to air, light, or noise pollution; heavy metals; and/or pesticides. This review made little reference to mental illness that was not neurodevelopmental (such as depression or anxiety) [ 15 ]. There was a single mention of increased ‘psychiatric conditions’ following children’s exposure to ultrafine particles and one of ‘a mental disorder’ following a 16-year-old female’s exposure to mercury.…”

Análise dos efeitos de agrotóxicos à base de imidaclopride e de abamectina sobre embriões de zebrafish (Danio rerio)

“…Além disso, os resíduos e seus produtos de degradação deixados nos alimentos podem exercer efeitos prejudiciais sobre o sistema nervoso (Xie et al, 2020;Ventriglio et al, 2021;Kaushal et al, 2021;Poirier et al, 2021), reprodutivo…”

“…Anualmente no mundo ocorrem mais de 300.000 mortes atribuídas a organofosforados e cerca de 1 milhão de intoxicações não intencionais e 2 milhões intencionais (Dodson et al, 2021). Os agrotóxicos podem não produzir efeitos de forma aguda e por isso serem classificados como medianamente ou pouco tóxicos, mas devemos considerar os efeitos crônicos ou até transgeracionais, causando várias doenças como cânceres, malformação congênita, distúrbios endócrinos, neurológicos e mentais (Bergman et al, 2013;Armiliato, 2014;Carneiro, 2015;Ventriglio et al, 2021).…”