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Pollution from wood-burning stoves, open fireplaces and coal heating may increase risk of dementia, an expert has warned. Professor Gill Livingston, an expert in psychiatry of older people at University College London, led landmark research which found that 14 risk factors account for almost half of all dementia cases around the world. The list included physical inactivity, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, hearing loss and traumatic brain injury.

Another factor highlighted was air pollution.

Prof Livingston said: "There's good evidence of a link between air pollution and dementia. Animal studies have shown that it causes particles called PM2.5 to be deposited in the brain, causing damage."

Studies have shown that PM2.5 - or particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometres or less - is small enough to bypass the body's respiratory defences.

Inhaled particles are thought to trigger systemic inflammation, which can drive neurodegeneration.

Prof Livingstone told The Telegraph: "There's a particular link between air pollution and vascular dementia. If you have vascular problems, you have less oxygen going to the brain. If you're then breathing in wood smoke, your vulnerability is increased."

Burning solid fuels for heat is a common source of PM2.5, including wood-burning stoves, open fireplaces and coal heating. Other sources include vehicle emissions, power plants and industrial processes.

A major review of 51 studies, published in the The Lancet Planetary Health last year, concluded that for every 10 micrograms per cubic metre (μg/m³) increase in exposure to PM2.5, an individual's relative risk of dementia would increase by 17%.

The average roadside measurement for PM2.5 in central London in 2023 was 10 μg/m³, according to the research by experts at the University of Cambridge.

A recent report on air quality statistics published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs stated that: "Around half of UK concentrations of PM comes from anthropogenic sources in the UK such as domestic wood burning and tyre and brake wear from vehicles.

"Residential combustion of wood and coal in stoves and open fires is a large contributor to emissions of particulate matter both in the UK and across Europe, and is a contributing factor towards elevated concentrations towards the end of autumn and in winter months."