The report, published on Monday by the United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA), assessed the impact of air pollution and cognitive decline.
In the government report, it says: “We have concluded that the evidence is now suggestive of an association between ambient air pollutants and an acceleration of the decline in cognitive function often associated with ageing, and with the risk of developing dementia.
“There are a number of plausible biological mechanisms by which air pollutants could cause effects on the brain leading to accelerated cognitive decline and dementia. Some of these have been demonstrated in experimental studies.
“We think there is a strong case for the effects of air pollutants on the cardiovascular system having a secondary effect on the brain.”
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Poor cardiovascular health has long been known to have an impact on neurological health.
The reason for this is because the healthier the cardiovascular system, the more oxygen the heart can pump around the body to crucial organs such as the brain.
Were there any caveats to the government report?
In their conclusions the authors stated: “The evidence base is currently inadequate to allow direct quantification using a meta-analysis of epidemiological studies linking air pollution with cognitive decline or dementia.”
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As a result, on top of evidence of climate change having a negative impact on the environment, there are growing calls for more to be done to tackle air pollution.
The hope is that by reducing air pollution, the risk of dementia and other cardiovascular illness are reduced too.
To that end, this morning the government announced a £7million fund for local action to cut air pollution.
The fund will aim to help local communities reduce air pollution in their area.
