Breathing in Polluted Cities is the Same as Smoking Several Packs of Cigarettes Daily!

A recent study by Scientists at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge revealed

that a previously unrecognized group of air pollutants similar to harmful substances found in tobacco smoke are present in the atmosphere of highly polluted cities. Inhaling those pollutants exposes the average individual to 300 times more radicals daily than from smoking one cigarette, the researchers added. This discovery could shed some light on the long-standing medical mystery of why non-smokers develop tobacco-related diseases such as lung cancer according to the LSU researchers. The researchers discovered that free radicals from tobacco smoke have extremely harmful effects on the body. The study revealed that free radicals similar to those in cigarettes are also found in airborne fine particles, which can potentially cause many of the same life-threatening conditions. Scientists have always known that free radicals exist in the atmosphere. Such atoms, molecules, and fragments of molecules are highly reactive and can damage cells in the body. In fact, free radicals are formed during the burning of fuels or in photochemical processes like those that form the Earths ozone layer. Many of these previously identified atmospheric free radicals form as gases, exist for one second or less and then disappear. In contrast, the previously undetected molecules, which the researchers referred to as persistent free radicals (PFRs) are formed on airborne nano-particles and other very fine particle residues as gases cool in smokestacks, automotive exhaust pipes, and household chimneys. The researchers said that the particles that contain metals, such as copper and iron, are the most likely to persist. Unlike other known atmospheric free radicals, PFRs can hang around in the air and travel for long distances, they said. The researchers said that people have to be in certain places to inhale transient gas-phase radicals. One would have to be right next to a road when a car passes, for example, they said. The research found that persistent radicals can last indefinitely on airborne fine particles. So people will never be able to get away from them. Once PFRs are inhaled, the researchers suspect that they are absorbed into the lungs and other tissues. By entering the body they cause DNA and other cellular damage. Epidemiological studies suggest that more than 500,000 Americans die each year from cardiopulmonary disease linked to breathing fine particle air pollution, they said. About 10 to 15% of lung cancers are found in people who dont smoke, according to the American Cancer Society. However, the researchers said that additional research is need before scientists can definitely associate airborne PFRs with such diseases. According to the researchers, cigarette smokers most likely get a double dose of PFRs every time they light up a cigarette, since tobacco smoke also contains these free radicals. One episode of cigarette smoking will cause a smoker to breathe in an equal number of PFRs from the air and from the cigarette smoke itself, which compounds the damaging effects of smoking.

Breathing in Polluted Cities is the Same as Smoking Several Packs of Cigarettes Daily!

By: Glenford Robinson

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