Friday, March 25, 2011

Diesel Emissions and Lung Damage

Road RAGE? The Role of Diesel Particulate Matter in Lung Inflammation (Betts KS, Environ Health Perspect 119, March 1, 2011)

The research reviewed today examines the components of diesel particulates found in environments close to truck and bus traffic that are particularly harmful to health through biological interactions in the lungs.



Key Quotes:

“Diesel particulate matter(DPM) .. is known to be inflammatory and is linked to a plethora of health effects including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and pulmonary fibrosis

“gene reporter experiments showed DPM exposure caused significant translocation of nuclear factor κB (NF-κB), a potent proinflammatory mediator, into the nucleus of R3/1 cells, where it can promote the expression of more than 200 genes”

“The work suggests that even “aged” DPM that has been suspended in the atmosphere for more than a decade is capable of biological activity, which has important public health implications given the abundance of this pollutant in the atmosphere”
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