A new study has found an association between traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) and depression in women.

Results of the study are published online today in the journal ‘Menopause’. Thanks to population growth and urbanisation, nearly one-quarter of the US population now live in proximity to high-volume roadways, exposing these persons to hazardous TRAP, which includes particulate matter and nitrogen oxides.

The adverse health outcomes, including psychiatric health conditions, of such exposure have been well documented.

Multiple studies have a l r e a d y examined the association between TRAP and depression, including a study that suggested that women are more vulnerable to the psychiatric effects of TRAP exposures than men.

A number of these studies confirmed that the closer the distance to the traffic, the greater the depressive symptoms, regardless of whether the exposure was short or long term.

What the previous studies lacked, however, was the examination of whether these linkages are independent of key variables such as sociodemo – graphic factors and overall reproductive health.