{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,14]],"date-time":"2026-08-14T06:29:27Z","timestamp":1786688967950,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":15,"publisher":"Springer Science and Business Media LLC","issue":"25","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,1]],"date-time":"2026-08-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1785542400000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,1]],"date-time":"2026-08-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1785542400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"funder":[{"name":"Georgetown University in Qatar"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["link.springer.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Environ Sci Pollut Res"],"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>\n                    Air pollution is a well-established risk factor for physical illness and premature mortality, yet its relationship with suicide remains less well understood, particularly at the national level and over longer periods of exposure. Although previous studies have reported positive associations between particulate matter and suicide, evidence remains heterogeneous, and national longitudinal analyses are limited. This study examines the association between fine particulate matter (PM\u2082.\u2085) concentrations and suicide mortality across local authorities in the UK between 2015 and 2023. Suicide data obtained from the UK Office for National Statistics were combined with modelled PM\u2082.\u2085 estimates from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, resulting in a balanced panel of more than 2200 local authority-year observations. Fixed-effects panel regression models were employed to account for unobserved time-invariant local characteristics and common year-specific shocks, while nonlinear specifications were estimated to examine potential threshold effects. The descriptive analysis revealed a negative cross-sectional association between PM\u2082.\u2085 concentrations and suicide rates. However, after controlling for local authority and year fixed effects, PM\u2082.\u2085 was positively and significantly associated with suicide mortality (\n                    <jats:italic>\u03b2<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u2009=\u20090.221,\n                    <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u2009=\u20090.007). The nonlinear model further identified a statistically significant U-shaped relationship, with an estimated turning point at approximately 7.8\u00a0\u00b5g\/m\n                    <jats:sup>3<\/jats:sup>\n                    , suggesting that higher PM\u2082.\u2085 concentrations are associated with increased suicide mortality beyond this threshold. Although the nonlinear specification modestly improved model fit, the findings should be interpreted cautiously given the observational design and the absence of certain time-varying socioeconomic controls. Overall, the results suggest that the relationship between PM\u2082.\u2085 and suicide mortality is conditional rather than uniform, varying across pollution exposure levels and geographic contexts. While the findings provide national-scale evidence on the association between long-term PM\u2082.\u2085 exposure and suicide mortality in the UK, they should be interpreted as exploratory associations rather than evidence of causality. Future research incorporating additional socioeconomic variables, longer time series, and higher temporal resolution data is needed to further evaluate these relationships.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1007\/s11356-026-38089-w","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,1]],"date-time":"2026-08-01T00:51:46Z","timestamp":1785545506000},"page":"12751-12758","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Air pollution and suicide mortality in the UK: implications for environmental and mental health policy"],"prefix":"10.1007","volume":"33","author":[{"given":"Sara","family":"Daoud","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alaa","family":"Al-Aswadi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9590-4939","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Humayd","family":"Dada","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rima J.","family":"Isaifan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,1]]},"reference":[{"issue":"8","key":"38089_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"453","DOI":"10.55214\/2576-8484.v9i8.9324","volume":"9","author":"L Al-Thani","year":"2025","unstructured":"Al-Thani L, Isaifan RJ (2025) Breathing in the margins: rethinking indoor air pollution and housing equity in urban slums. Edelweiss Appl Sci Technol 9(8):453\u2013477","journal-title":"Edelweiss Appl Sci Technol"},{"key":"38089_CR2","unstructured":"Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (2026) Modelled background pollution data. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR helpline@defra.gsi.gov.uk. (UK; United Kingdom). https:\/\/uk-air.defra.gov.uk\/data\/pcm-data. Accessed 24 Feb 2026"},{"issue":"9","key":"38089_CR3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"506","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tins.2009.05.009","volume":"32","author":"ML Block","year":"2009","unstructured":"Block ML, Calder\u00f3n-Garcidue\u00f1as L (2009) Air pollution: mechanisms of neuroinflammation and CNS disease. Trends Neurosci 32(9):506\u2013516. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.tins.2009.05.009","journal-title":"Trends Neurosci"},{"key":"38089_CR4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"45","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jad.2014.01.002","volume":"157","author":"J Cho","year":"2014","unstructured":"Cho J, Choi YJ, Suh M, Sohn J, Kim H, Cho S-K, Ha KH, Kim C, Shin DC (2014) Air pollution as a risk factor for depressive episodes in patients with cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, or asthma. J Affect Disord 157:45\u201351. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.jad.2014.01.002","journal-title":"J Affect Disord"},{"issue":"4","key":"38089_CR5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"704","DOI":"10.1039\/D2EM00276K","volume":"25","author":"JA Flood-Garibay","year":"2023","unstructured":"Flood-Garibay JA, Angulo-Molina A, M\u00e9ndez-Rojas M\u00c1 (2023) Particulate matter and ultrafine particles in urban air pollution and their effect on the nervous system. 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Int J Environ Res Public Health 18:7699. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/ijerph18147699","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph18147699"},{"key":"38089_CR8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms25147654","author":"A Hu","year":"2024","unstructured":"Hu A, Li R, Chen G, Chen S (2024) Impact of respiratory dust on health: a comparison based on the toxicity of PM2.5, silica, and nanosilica. Int J Mol Sci. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/ijms25147654","journal-title":"Int J Mol Sci"},{"key":"38089_CR9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Isaifan RJ (2023) Air pollution burden of disease over highly populated states in the Middle East. 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