Growing evidence suggests that air pollution may exert neurotoxic effects through mechanisms such as neuroinflammation, potentially contributing to neurodegenerative conditions, including motor neuron disease (MND). To further clarify this association, a study examined the impact of long-term air pollution exposure on the risk and progression of MND in 1,463 patients with newly diagnosed disease (mean age: 67.3 years). The analysis included comparisons with 7,310 age and sex matched population controls and 1,768 sibling controls.
Over a follow-up period of eight years, long-term exposure to air pollution was associated with an increased risk of MND compared with population controls. Per interquartile range increase in the 10-year average exposure, the odds ratio for disease risk was 1.21 for particulate matter (PM) 2.5 , 1.30 for PM 2.5–10 , 1.29 for PM 10 , and 1.20 for nitrogen…
