Background: Emerging data suggests PM (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter <2.5 μm) may be associated with both earlier declines in episodic memory (EM) and increased depressive symptoms in older adults. Although late-life depressive symptoms are associated with EM, no longitudinal studies have examined the inter-relationship among PM, depressive symptoms and EM.
Methods: Older women (n = 2,202; aged 67-83 in 1999) enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative Study of Cognitive Aging completed up to eight annual assessments of depressive symptoms (15-item Geriatric Depression Scale) and EM (California Verbal Learning Test). A nationwide spatiotemporal model (1999-2010) was used to estimate ambient PM exposure at residential locations. Univariate and bivariate structural equation models (SEMs) for latent-change scores were used to examine how 3-year average PM preceding each assessment affects the temporal dynamics and bidirectional relations of annual changes in depressive symptoms and EM.
Results: In univariate SEMs, one inter-quartile (4.04 μg/m) increment of 3-year PM was significantly (p < 0.05) associated with accelerated declines in verbal learning (List A trials 1-3: β = -1.48) and free-recall memory (short-delay: β = -1.43; long-delay: β = -1.11), but not with change in depressive symptoms (β = 0.12; p = 0.71). In bivariate SEMs, significant associations were observed between PM and accelerated declines in EM measures (β = -1.44 to -0.99; p < 0.05) and between EM performance and changes in depressive symptoms (β = -0.08 to -0.05; p < 0.05), with significant indirect PM effects on changes in depressive symptoms (β = 0.08-0.10; p < 0.05). These findings were robust with adjustment for multiple demographic, lifestyle, and clinical factors, and remained after excluding subjects with dementia or mild cognitive impairment. No associations were found between PM and change in depressive symptoms or depressive symptoms and subsequent EM decline.
Conclusions: Findings suggest that PM neurotoxicity may damage brain areas implicated in EM, followed by manifestation of depressive symptoms. Our data did not support depressive symptoms as the neuropsychological mediator of accelerated brain aging associated with PM exposure.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7499893 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2019.105196 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Long-term exposure to air pollution and greenness in association with respiratory emergency room visits and hospitalizations: The Life-GAP project.
Environ Res
January 2025
Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
Background: Air pollution has been linked to respiratory diseases, while the effects of greenness remain inconclusive.
Objective: We investigated the associations between exposure to particulate matter (PM and PM), black carbon (BC), nitrogen dioxide (NO), ozone (O), and greenness (normalized difference vegetation index, NDVI) with respiratory emergency room visits and hospitalizations across seven Northern European centers in the European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS) study.
Methods: We used modified mixed-effects Poisson regression to analyze associations of exposure in 1990, 2000 and mean exposure 1990-2000 with respiratory outcomes recorded duing ECRHS phases II and III.
Airborne particulate matter inhalation bioaccessibility: A review of methodological aspects.
Chem Biol Interact
January 2025
Department of Environment and Planning, Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal. Electronic address:
Research has consistently linked exposure to particulate matter (PM) with adverse health outcomes, including cardiovascular and pulmonary morbidity and mortality. Understanding the mechanisms by which PM leads to these effects on human health is crucial for developing effective mitigation strategies. One aspect of PM research that has gained increased attention in the past few years is the bioaccessibility of inhaled PM-bound pollutants that have potential to cause adverse health effects.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnderestimated Industrial Ammonia Emission in China Uncovered by Material Flow Analysis.
Environ Pollut
January 2025
State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing, 210044, China. Electronic address:
Ammonia (NH) is crucial in fine particulate matter (PM) formation, but past estimations on industrial NH emissions remain highly uncertain. In this study, the flow of NH within air pollution control devices (APCDs) were investigated basing on material flow analysis with in-situ measurements of NH concentrations at the inlets and outlets of each APCD. Then, by combing emission factors updated with recent in-situ measurements and provincial-level activity data from statistical yearbooks and associated reports, NH emissions from various industrial sources, as well as their spatial distribution across China in 2020, were evaluated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe synergies of air quality monitoring program: Information disclosure and pollution control.
J Environ Manage
January 2025
Chongqing Environmental Consulting Co., Ltd., CISDI Group Co., Ltd., Chongqing, China. Electronic address:
To deal with the increasingly severe climate crisis and environmental pollution, China launched a nationwide real-time air quality monitoring program in three batches, a milestone moment in its environmental governance history. Using the time-varying difference-in-differences model, this study explores the synergies of this program across 284 cities from 2009 to 2019. The findings are as follows: (1) With environmental information disclosed, the national air quality monitoring program can reduce the outdoor fine particulate matter concentration by an overall effect of 3.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWhat influences the distribution of microplastics in the marine environment? An interdisciplinary study reveals key factors driving microplastic in the North Sea.
Sci Total Environ
January 2025
Center for Marine Sensors, Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment (ICBM), Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, 26382 Wilhelmshaven, Germany.
Microplastics (MP) are known to be ubiquitous. The pathways and fate of these contaminants in the marine environment are receiving increasing attention, but still knowledge gaps exist. In particular, the link between mass-based MP quantification and oceanographic parameters is often lacking.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!