title: The association of air pollution and depressed mood in 70,928 individuals from four European cohorts.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Exposure to ambient air pollution may be associated with impaired mental health, including depression. However, evidence originates mainly from animal studies and epidemiological studies in specific subgroups. We investigated the association between air pollution and depressed mood in four European general population cohorts.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were obtained from LifeLines (the Netherlands), KORA (Germany), HUNT (Norway), and FINRISK (Finland). Residential exposure to particles (PM2.5, PM2.5absorbance, PM10) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) was estimated using land use regression (LUR) models developed for the European Study of Cohorts for Air Pollution Effects (ESCAPE) and using European wide LUR models. Depressed mood was assessed with interviews and questionnaires. Logistic regression analyses were used to investigate the cohort specific associations between air pollution and depressed mood.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 70,928 participants were included in our analyses. Depressed mood ranged from 1.6% (KORA) to 11.3% (FINRISK). Cohort specific associations of the air pollutants and depressed mood showed heterogeneous results. For example, positive associations were found for NO2 in LifeLines (odds ratio [OR]=1.34; 95% CI: 1.17, 1.53 per 10 μg/m(3) increase in NO2), whereas negative associations were found in HUNT (OR=0.79; 95% CI: 0.66, 0.94 per 10 μg/m(3) increase in NO2).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our analyses of four European general population cohorts found no consistent evidence for an association between ambient air pollution and depressed mood.
authors.affiliation: University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Epidemiology, Groningen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: w.l.zijlema@umcg.nl.
authors.forename: W L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Zijlema
authors.affiliation: Institute of Epidemiology II, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wolf
authors.affiliation: Institute of Epidemiology II, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Emeny
authors.affiliation: Institute of Epidemiology II, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany; Technische Universität München (TUM), Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, München, Germany.
authors.forename: K H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Ladwig
authors.affiliation: Institute of Epidemiology II, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Directorate for Health and Social Affairs, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kongsgård
authors.affiliation: HUNT Research Centre, Department of Public Health and General Practice, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Levanger, Norway.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hveem
authors.affiliation: HUNT Research Centre, Department of Public Health and General Practice, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Levanger, Norway.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kvaløy
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Health and Welfare, Department of Health Protection, Living Environment and Health Unit, Kuopio, Finland.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yli-Tuomi
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Health and Welfare, Department of Health, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Partonen
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Health and Welfare, Department of Health Protection, Living Environment and Health Unit, Kuopio, Finland.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lanki
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Swiss Tropical & Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland; University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Eeftens
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Swiss Tropical & Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland; University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland; MRC-PHE Centre for Environment and Health, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: de Hoogh
authors.affiliation: Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS), Division of Environmental Epidemiology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center, University of Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Brunekreef
authors.affiliation: University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Epidemiology, Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Stolk
authors.affiliation: University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Interdisciplinary Center Psychopathology and Emotion regulation (ICPE), Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: J G M
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Rosmalen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000032:analysis*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018986:Motor Vehicles; D009585:Nitrogen Dioxide / Q000032:analysis; D009622:Noise; D016017:Odds Ratio; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D052638:Particulate Matter; D009585:Nitrogen Dioxide
keywords: Ambient air pollution; Depressed mood; Harmonization; Multi-cohort study; Traffic noise