Print Friendly and PDF
Listen: EHN reporter discusses pollution's mental health toll

Listen: EHN reporter discusses pollution's mental health toll

"Pollution can also cause physical changes to our brains that can impact our mental health."

EHN reporter Kristina Marusic recently discussed the mental health impacts of pollution on an episode of "Mad in America," a podcast about science, psychiatry, and social justice.


Marusic talked about emerging research showing that pollution in air and water can affect our minds and emotions, and that children are especially vulnerable, both while they are young and later in life. It's a topic she covered in depth in her series, "Pollution's mental toll," a collaboration with The Allegheny Front.

"I wasn’t surprised to learn that being worried about pollution or climate change can contribute to anxiety or depression," Marusic said on the episode. "But I was very surprised to learn that pollution can also cause physical changes to our brains that can impact our mental health."

Read the transcript or listen to the full interview here.

Become a donor
Today's top news
From our newsroom

Get phthalates, parabens out of the bathroom drawer to reduce breast cancer risk: Study

Women who switched to paraben- and phthalate- free shampoos, lotions, soaps and deodorants had fewer cancer-associated changes to breast tissue cells.

LISTEN: Robbie Parks on climate justice and mental health

“It’s not just moving people around that’s going to solve public health disasters.”

WATCH: Are plastics a threat to national security?

Pete Myers explores the troubling link.

Every stage of plastic production and use is harming human health: Report

New report recommends the United Nations Global Plastics Treaty significantly reduce plastic use through aggressive bans and caps, and closer examination of toxic ingredients.

WATCH: The aftermath of the East Palestine, Ohio, toxic train derailment

Beyond Plastics captures the personal stories of residents and call for a federal ban on vinyl chloride.