Estimating the role of air quality improvements in the decline of suicide rates in China

Emerging evidence suggests that air pollution may play a role in shaping suicide risk by altering brain function. However, this link is difficult to quantify and has yet to be investigated in China, where 16% of global suicides occur. Here we apply a statistical model that leverages random increases in particulate pollution (PM_2.5) due to meteorological conditions to comprehensive data on suicide rates across Chinese counties. We find that a 1 s.d. (σ) increase in PM_2.5 raises weekly suicide rates by ∼25%. This effect occurs without delay, consistent with neurobiological evidence that PM_2.5 influences emotional regulation and impulsive–aggressive behaviour. Effects are sex and age specific; women over 65 exhibit significantly higher vulnerability. We estimate that PM_2.5 reductions under China’s Air Pollution Action Plan prevented 13,000–79,000 (95% confidence interval) suicides over 2013–2017, accounting for ∼10% of this period’s observed suicide rate decline. Our findings uncover a causal link between particulate pollution and suicide, adding urgency to calls for pollution control policies across the globe.

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