Air pollution can cause bad sleep, say researchers from the University of Washington. The results of their research they outlined at the annual conference of the American Thoracic Society. Scientists conducted an experiment for five years. During this time, they took air samples from the homes of 1863 volunteers from six cities. At the time of the study, participants before going to bed put on special devices that fixed the movements of the body, thus determining whether the participant is asleep or not. As a result, it was found that the higher the concentration of nitrogen oxide and small particles in the air at home, the worse the subjects slept.

The authors of the study attribute this effect to irritation of the mucosa caused by contaminated air. In addition, it can provoke and breathing problems. At the same time, a high level of contamination was associated with a longer wakefulness when awakening during sleep. Scientists note that such results were quite expected: previous studies have already shown that nitric oxide affects the physiological and biochemical functions of the body.

The scientists called the common cause of bad sleep.