Association between particulate matter air pollution and risk of depression and suicide: systematic review and meta-analysis – RETRACTED

<jats:sec id="S0007125018002957_sec_a1"><jats:title>Background</jats:title><jats:p>Some recent studies examined the effect of ambient particulate matter (PM) pollution on depression and suicide. However, the results have been inconclusive.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec id="S0007125018002957_sec_a2"><jats:title>Aims</jats:title><jats:p>To determine the overall relationship between PM exposure and depression/suicide in the general population.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec id="S0007125018002957_sec_a3" sec-type="methods"><jats:title>Method</jats:title><jats:p>We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of case-crossover and cohort studies to assess the association between PM<jats:sub>2.5</jats:sub> (particles with an aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 µm or less) or PM<jats:sub>10</jats:sub> (particles with an aerodynamic diameter between 2.5 and 10 µm) exposure and depression/suicide.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec id="S0007125018002957_sec_a4" sec-type="results"><jats:title>Results</jats:title><jats:p>A total of 14 articles (7 for depression and 7 for suicide) with data from 684 859 participants were included in the meta-analysis. With a 10 µg/m<jats:sup>3</jats:sup> increase in PM<jats:sub>2.5</jats:sub> we found a 19% (odds ratio [95% CI] 1.19 [1.07, 1.33]) increased risk of depression and a marginally increased risk of suicide (odds ratio [95% CI] 1.05 [0.99, 1.11]) in the general population. We did not observe any significant associations between increasing exposure to PM<jats:sub>10</jats:sub> and depression/suicide. Sensitivity and subgroup analyses were used to determine the robustness of results. The strongest estimated effect of depression associated with PM<jats:sub>2.5</jats:sub> appeared in a long-term lag pattern (odds ratio [95% CI] 1.25 [1.07, 1.45], <jats:italic>P</jats:italic> < 0.01) and cumulative lag pattern (odds ratio [95% CI] 1.26 [1.07, 1.48], <jats:italic>P</jats:italic> < 0.01).</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec id="S0007125018002957_sec_a5" sec-type="conclusion"><jats:title>Conclusions</jats:title><jats:p>The meta-analysis suggested that an increase in ambient PM<jats:sub>2.5</jats:sub> concentration was strongly associated with increased depression risk in the general population, and the association appeared stronger at long-term lag and cumulative lag patterns, suggesting a potential cumulative exposure effect over time.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec id="S0007125018002957_sec_a6"><jats:title>Declaration of interest</jats:title><jats:p>None.</jats:p></jats:sec>