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Breathing polluted air could cause toxic particles to be carried from lungs to brain through the bloodstream, which could contribute to brain disorders and neurological damage.
A study published in “PNAS” reveals a possible direct pathway used by various fine particles inhaled through the bloodstream to access the brain. The problem is that once they reach the brain, the particles stay there longer than in other organs.
The British and Chinese scientists explain in their work that they have found various fine particles in human cerebrospinal fluids taken from patients who had experienced brain disordersuncovering a process that can result in toxic particles ending up in the brain.
‘There are gaps in our knowledge about the harmful effects of fine airborne particles on the central nervous system. This work sheds new light on the link between inhaling particles and how they subsequently move through the body,” says study co-author Professor Iseult Lynch, from the University of Birmingham.
The data from the study published in “PNAS” suggest that the amount of fine particles that can reach the brain through the bloodstream, from the lungs, than those that pass directly through the nose, is up to eight times greater. This, says Lynch, “adds new evidence on the relationship between air pollution and the harmful effects of these particles on the brain.”
Air pollution is a cocktail of many toxic components, but particulates (PM, especially fine ambient particles such as PM 2.5 and PM 0.1 ) are the most concerning in terms of causing detrimental health effects. Ultrafine particles, in particular, can escape the body’s protective systems, including sentinel immune cells and biological barriers.
Recent evidence has revealed a strong link between high levels of air pollution and neuroinflammation marked, Alzheimer’s-like changes and cognitive problems in the elderly and even in children.
Researchers have found that inhaled particles can enter the bloodstream after crossing the air-blood barrier, eventually reaching the brain and causing damage to the barrier between the brain and blood and the surrounding tissues in doing so. Once in the brain, the particles were difficult to remove and were retained longer than in other organs.
Their findings offer new evidence to demonstrate the risks of particulate pollution to the central nervous system, but the researchers recommend that more research is needed into the mechanics of how inhaled environmental fine particles reach the brain.
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