Professor Jamie Mullins recently published an article, "Air Pollution and Suicide in Rural and Urban America: Evidence from Wildfire Smoke" in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
The article details the significance of air pollution in how it affects not only physical health but mental health as well. "This study provides large-scale evidence that air pollution elevates the risk of suicide, disproportionately so among rural populations."
Professor Jamie Mullins states in this UMass article, “While there is a growing body of evidence linking air pollution to negative mental health outcomes, this is the first work showing that wildfires – the magnitude and intensity of which have been increasing in recent years – negatively affect mental health through the smoke that can spread hundreds of miles beyond the flames.”
Additional coverage can be found here.