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The research, led by Paul Borm from Zuyd University in The Netherlands, has for the first time demonstrated that inhalation actually alters brain activity. In the study, 10 volunteers were made to spend one hour in a room filled with either clean air or exhaust from a diesel engine. They were wired up to an electroencephalograph (EEG), a machine that records the electrical signals of the brain, and their brain waves monitored during the exposure period and for one hour after they left the room.

The analyses after 30 minutes found that the diesel exhaust began to affect brain activity. The EEG data suggested that the brain displayed a stress response, indicative of changed information processing in the brain cortex, which continued to increase even after the subjects had left the exposure chamber. The concentration of diesel exhaust that the subjects breathed was set to the highest level that people might encounter in the environment or at work, for example, on a busy road or in a garage. One link to understanding the mechanism of this effect is that oxidative stress is one consequence of particles depositing in tissue and oxidative stress has also been implicated in degenerative brain diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. “It is conceivable that the long-term effects of exposure to traffic nanoparticles may interfere with normal brain function and information processing,” Borm said.

The study is published in the journal Particle and Fibre Toxicology. — ANI

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