A recent study by a non-profit hospital in Los Angeles suggests that long-term exposure of particulate matter in polluted air triggered the appearance of cancer-related genes in the brains of rats. The study done on rats for a year, in different stages, focuses on the long-term health effects caused by air pollution. For the study, rats were exposed to particulate matter of different sizes for short (two weeks), intermediate (1–3 months) and long duration (one year). Gene up-regulation occurred only in brains of rats exposed to PM 2.5–10 and correlated with cerebral nickel accumulation. "In humans, exposure to high levels of air pollution is associated with chronic neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration.

Source: dna May 23, 2018 00:22 UTC