Researchers from the United States have warned about their study that brain damage can be a result of too much exposure on roads where combustions of gases from vehicles are rampant. Highway exposures could eventually lead to Alzheimer’s disease or memory loss.
They conducted a 10-week study on mice that was brought outside a harsh environment in a span of 15 hours a week. The harsh air was composed of pollutants that were airborne which originated from fossil fuel burnings. Those that pollute the air likewise came from the weathering process of car parts and asphalt roads.
The study had come to a result that the exposure caused severe damage on the brains of the mice. The huge damage was caused by too small particles that cannot even penetrate on car filtration systems.
Those tiny particles may be invisible to the naked eye but once they enter the body through inhalation, it may bring a huge damage on brain neurons that could trigger harmful effects on brains.
Scientists found out that neurons gain significant damages due to deep exposure. As a consequence, the memory will be affected. They also have observed that it might undergo a process of inflammation that could relate to Alzheimer’s disease and premature aging.
The Environmental Health Perspectives peer-reviewed journal will be able to give further details regarding the outcome of the study presented by the researchers.
In addition, the researchers made a recommendation to conduct more research to know if human beings will also acquire the same outcome.
According Caleb Finch, the University of Southern California senior author, the result of the study will gradually formulate a big question about how urban dwellers might be protected against an environment having a huge amount of toxic.