A recent study published in the Public Library of Science (PLOS) found a positive correlation between certain types of air pollution (fine dust particles and ozone) and both suicide and depression, Korea Bizwire reported Monday.

Dr. Kim Do-gwan and his colleagues of the Neuropsychiatry Center at the Samsung Medical Center in Seoul, South Korea concluded that particulate matter, or PM-10, were significant contributors to the psychological issues studied.

The team measured the changes of PM-10 week to week. They found that when the amount of PM-10 increased by 37.82㎍/㎥ per week, the suicide rate would also increase by 3.2 percent.

When the concentration of ozone increased by 0.016ppm per week, suicide rates increased by 7.8 percent.

The researchers argued that the studied forms of air pollution negatively affected the functioning of neurotransmitters in the central nervous system. These neurotransmitters were linked to serotonin metabolism.