Air pollution has a negative impact on our overall health and it usually triggers respiratory and cardiovascular issues. Lately, there have been air pollution and heavy smog issues all over the world. Recently, new research discovered that air pollution doesn’t only affect your heart and lung health, but it also has a negative impact on your mood and sleep.

The Link Between Air Pollution and Sleep

Recently in a study published in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society, researchers examined the link between obstructive sleep apnea and two common air pollutants, PM2.5 and nitrogen dioxide. PM2.5 is a type of fine particle pollution, which consists of particles that are 2.5 micrometers in diameter or smaller. These are produced by motor vehicles, power plants, agricultural fires, industrial processes, and burning wood. Just for perspective, pollen, dust, and mold have a diameter of about 10 micrometers.

So, the result of the study demonstrated that people who live in places where the levels of these two types of pollution are higher were more likely to develop obstructive sleep apnea. Obstructive sleep apnea is a common type of sleep disorder which occurs when the throat closes and blocks the flow of air.

The researchers also considered other factors, such as BMI, diabetes, hypertension, family income, and smoking. There have been 1,974 people who were enrolled in the sleep and air pollution study. The average age of the study group was 68 and they were a racially diverse group. The researchers evaluated air pollution exposure at each person’s home. It has been shown that air pollution can cause upper airway congestion. However, more research is needed to determine the cause-and-effect relationship between air pollution and sleep apnea.

Sleep apnea can be caused by various factors, including light pollution, noise, stressors, sleep environments, and the shape of the airway. Moreover, air pollution might affect the brain directly to interfere with breathing during sleep. Another study demonstrated a link between exposure to air pollution and a drop in cognitive performance.

The Effect of Air Pollution on Mood

Besides your sleep, air pollution might also affect your mood and happiness levels. In fact, happiness decreases as air pollution increases. Pollution doesn’t only make people moody and unhappy, but they are also more prone to making irrational decisions. Air pollution has direct physical effects and it has been proven that people who dislike air pollution move to cleaner cities and their mood improves significantly. People who live in dirty cities are more worried as they are aware of the effect of air pollution on their health.

How to Keep Your Lungs Healthy

Air pollution can wreak havoc on human health and thus, it’s very important to keep your lungs healthy. People who smoke and live in a high-pollution area are more likely to get lung disease and lung cancer. So, in order to keep your lungs safe, stop smoking.