Science News
Your brain on diesel fumes
New research finds that diesel exhaust affects brain activity.
The smell of diesel exhaust is now even less appealing. A new study has found that breathing the fumes even for short periods can trigger a stress response in the brain.
The study, published online March 11 in Particle and Fibre Toxicology (2008, DOI 10.1186/1743-8977-5-4), is the first to link soot inhalation to brain activity. Previous work has shown that inhaled particles, including nanoparticles, can travel to the brain via the olfactory nerve.
A research team led by Paul Borm of Zuyd University (The Netherlands) placed 10 volunteers in rooms filled with either clean air or diesel exhaust at levels similar to those in a busy road or garage. The researchers measured electrical signals in the volunteers' brains with an electroencephalograph (EEG) during 1 hour of exposure and for 1 hour after they left the room.
Diesel fumes began to affect brain activity within 30 minutes. The EEG recorded a stress response in the brain cortex that could affect information processing, including increased activity in the left frontal cortex. The effect continued to increase even after subjects left the room.
Nanoparticles such as those in diesel exhaust can cause inflammation and an imbalance in highly reactive forms of oxygen, a condition called oxidative stress, in parts of the body where they land after being inhaled. The researchers hypothesize that the effects of diesel exhaust could be caused by nanoparticles slowly penetrating the brain or affecting brain signaling. Oxidative stress has also been linked to Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, and long-term exposure to these fumes conceivably could decrease cognitive function, they write.
The researchers plan to follow up with studies that isolate the effects of different diesel exhaust components. Experiments are currently being conducted that expose volunteers to artificial nanoparticles without the gaseous components of diesel exhaust to determine whether nanoparticles directly affect the brain. Further work is limited, however, by the ethical considerations involved in exposing human subjects to potentially harmful fumes.
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