Exposure to ambient ozone, a currently under-investigated pollutant, is supposed to link to adverse health effects. Regarding this project, we plan to investigate associations between ambient ozone exposure and mental health, specifically concentrate on depressive symptoms. Based on our German birth cohorts and health care data, we can epidemiological analyze the association between ozone and depression. Furthermore, we could explore some possible underlying mechanisms that lie behind the associations, such as inflammation and dysfunctions of the endocrine system.
On the other hand, the project also attempts to illustrate the current general evidence on ambient ozone exposure and health outcomes. Therefore, we aim to perform an umbrella review on ambient ozone exposure and health effects by systematically reviewing existing systematic reviews. We will additionally supplement those ozone-effect pairs filtered from the umbrella review with original epidemiological and experimental evidence to provide a more comprehensive picture on ozone and health.
