Toxic Air Pollution Can Penetrate the Brain: Study

Current Event #8

Core Bio // Mr. Ippolito

Norah Foley

April 16th, 2017

Worland, Justin. "Toxic Air Pollution Can Penetrate the Brain: Study." Time. Time, 06 Sept.

2016. Web. 06 Sept. 2016.

http://time.com/4480016/air-pollution-health-effects/

 The article I read was entitled “Toxic Air Pollution Can Penetrate the Brain: Study” by Justin Worland. In the articled, Worland addresses how air pollution remains a major global health threat that contributes to many more degenerative diseases than previously thought.  According to new research the toxic effects of pollution reach well beyond just cardiovascular diseases.  Based on research from a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, pollution also appears to be a contributing factor to brain maladies, such as Alzheimer's.  Researchers found that toxic particles of magnetite and other metals which makes up the much of the pollution in urban areas, are actually able to permeate the brain through the olfactory nerve.  These substances have been found in high levels of brain tissue taken from people who had previously resided in heavily polluted cities.  The author believes this research now shows how the  pollution can enter the human body and cause the disease, although he does note that more research will be necessary to show the exact cause and effect.   

This is problematic, since according to the World Health Organization, over 80% of people in urban societies reside in areas where air quality is well below current health standards. According to this article air pollution is linked to a variety of health issues, including millions of premature deaths yearly, throughout the world. It has long been a problem in cities that are heavily polluted such as in third world countries like India, but now it seems to also be affecting areas that are proactively fighting pollution, such as in Europe and the United States.  It affects our lives here in Bronxville, because we are located just outside a major city.  We breath the same air and it appears based on this article, that even small amounts are able to “infiltrate” the human body and wreak havoc on one’s health.  Now that we are gaining a greater understanding of how pollution can permeate the body, we need to focus more on ways to prevent it from doing so.  

I found this article to be very interesting since toxic air pollution affects so much of humanity.  However, it covered this topic in very general terms, raising a lot of unanswered questions.  The author often stated that “research shows” that pollution contributes to degenerative brain diseases without giving specific examples or sources for his theories.  He asserts that pollution “infiltrates” the brain through the olfactory nerve, but has not detailed exactly why he makes this claim, other than that it was found in the brain tissue of  individuals from heavily polluted cities, like Mexico City and Manchester.  It leaves me to question whether there could be other ways that pollution could end up in the brain tissue.  Maybe it traveled in the person’s bloodstream when that person drank contaminated water or food?  Could the magnetite or other metals somehow be absorbed by the skin, similar to lead poisoning? Leaving these questions unanswered was frustrating to me as a reader, however with more research these questions could possibly be answered.