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Pennsylvania
Annual air pollution limits were reached in London during the first month of the year.
Air pollution research may be linked to an increased risk of developing dementia.
A study shows a link between the condition and the exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and toxic air particles.
The researchers reported that patients living in M25 areas in areas with the highest NO2 levels were 40% more likely to develop dementia.
Alzheimer's Research UK said the results should be treated with caution.
The study, published in the journal BMJ Open, used anonymous patient health records from clinical clinical research link to collect data from 75 general practices within the M25.
Researchers from the University of London, Imperial College and King's College London, said other work was "urgent" to confirm their findings.
Their work included 131,000 patients aged 50 to 79 in 2004, who were not diagnosed with dementia.
The health of each patient was monitored for an average of seven years until they were diagnosed, died or left their practice.
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Nick Ansell / PA Wire
Data from more than 130,000 patients from London doctors' offices were used in the study.
Between 2005 and 2013, approximately 2,200 of these patients were diagnosed with dementia.
These diagnoses were found to be related to ambient concentrations of NO2 and PM2.5 toxic particles, based on estimates made near patients' homes in 2004.
People living in areas with fifth-rate nitrogen dioxide had an increased risk of 40% dementia, compared to those living in areas where the fifth was the lowest.
A similar increase was observed in areas where air contained higher levels of PM2.5 toxic airborne particles, the study adds.
"Our results suggest that regional and urban background pollutants can be as important as pollutants close to the circulation," the researchers said.
"The cause of these neurodegenerative diseases is still largely unknown … while toxic substances from air pollution have several plausible pathways to reach the brain, how and when they can influence neurodegeneration remains speculative."
Alzheimer's Research UK has supported the idea of additional research.
Dr. David Reynolds, scientific leader of the charity, said: "Although researchers have tried to explain factors such as wealth, heart disease and other possible explanations of dementia rate in the capital,.
"The diseases that cause dementia can begin in the brain until 20 years before symptoms begin to appear.
"We do not know where the people who participated in this study lived in the two decades preceding their diagnosis of dementia, so we need to be cautious about how we interpret these results."
The annual legal limits for air pollution have been reached in London during the first month of this year.
A recent NO2 study found that Marylebone Road and Hyde Park Corner were the most polluted postal codes in Britain.
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