In the News: Diesel fumes can be deadly
Diesel fumes clog up the arteries and increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes warn researchers. Scientists have found that pollution from cars, lorries, vans and buses triggers a chain reaction in the blood that leads to potentially deadening hardening of the arteries.
The researchers say the findings reinforce earlier advice that people with chronic lung or heart disease should avoid staying outside for long periods when pollution levels are high. The link between pollution and heart disease and stroke has long been known but this new research is the first to explain how the fine diesel particles ‘conspire’ with artery clogging cholesterol to switch on the genes that cause blood vessel inflammation.
Dr Andrew Nel, who led the study at the University of California said, ‘When you add one plus one it normally totals two. But we found that adding diesel particles to cholesterol fat equals three. Their combination creates a dangerous synergy that wreaks cardiovascular havoc far beyond what’s caused by the diesel of cholesterol alone.’
The findings just published in the journal Genome Biology are based on lab studies of human tissues. The scientists compared diesel particles and the bad form of cholesterol in a test tube and added them with cells taken from the inner lining of human blood vessels. A few hours later, DNA tests of the human cells showed that the diesel particles were working in tandem with cholesterol to encourage inflammation of the blood vessels.