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Study: Air pollution linked to higher dementia risk

Tyler Wornell

FILE - Emissions rise from the smokestacks at the Jeffrey Energy Center coal power plant as the suns sets, near Emmett, Kan., Sept. 18, 2021. The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing a federal plan that would restrict smokestack emissions from power plants and other industrial sources that burden downwind areas with air pollution they can't control. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

(NewsNation) — People who are exposed to high concentrations of air pollution over a long period of time are at higher risk of developing dementia, according to a new study.

Scientists from the University of Michigan and other institutions found that particulate matter generated especially from agriculture and wildfires were associated with incident dementia — higher rates of new cases of dementia in a population over time.


The results of the National Institutes of Health-funded study were published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine.

“As we experience the effects of air pollution from wildfires and other emissions locally and internationally, these findings contribute to the strong evidence needed to best inform health and policy decisions,” said Richard J. Hodes, director of the National Institute on Aging, part of NIH. “These results are an example of effectively using federally funded research data to help address critical health risks.”

The study used data from 27,857 adults age 50 or older enrolled in the  Health and Retirement Study (HRS). The findings showed 15% developed dementia during an average follow-up period of 10 years.

“Compared with those who did not develop dementia, participants with incident dementia were more likely to be non-white, have less formal education, less wealth, and higher surrounding PM2.5 levels at their address,” the NIH said in a news release.

Researchers gathered air quality measurements from the EPA and other sources to build a model estimating the pollutant levels at each participants’ address. A total of nine emission sources were studied: agriculture, road traffic, non-road traffic, coal combustion for energy production, other energy production, coal combustion for industry, other industry, open fires and windblown dust.

“This level of specificity is new and useful,” said Jonathan W. King, NIA project scientist for HRS. “As NIA continues to conduct and fund studies on risk factors for dementia, these results will help inform future research, and potentially, policy interventions.”