This just came in. J.
>To: mailbox-WdiPhmTxsBdBDgjK7y7TUQ@public.gmane.org
>Subject: Carfree: An study indicates negative affects to exposure from freeway
> air
>
>Hi, I think you might find this interesting.
>
><http://scienceblog.com/44197/freeway-air-bad-for-mouse-brain/>http://scienceblog.com/44197/freeway-air-bad-for-mouse-brain/
>
>Freeway air bad for mouse brain
>
>on April 7, 2011
>
>If mice commuted, their brains might find it progressively harder to navigate the maze of Los Angeles freeways.
>
>A new study reveals that after short-term exposure to vehicle pollution, mice showed significant brain damage including signs associated with memory loss and Alzheimer’s disease.
>
>The mind-numbing toxin is not an exhaust gas, but a mix of tiny particles from burning of fossil fuel and weathering of car parts and pavement, according to the study to be published Thursday, April 7 in the leading journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
>
>Many studies have drawn a link between vehicle pollution and health problems. This is the first to explore the physical effect of freeway pollution on brain cells.
>
>The authors found a way to recreate air laden with freeway particulate matter inside the laboratory. Whether in a test tube or in live mice, brain cells showed similar responses:
> * Neurons involved in learning and memory showed significant damage,
> * The brain showed signs of inflammation associated with premature aging and Alzheimer’s disease,
> * Neurons from developing mice did not grow as well.
>
>The freeway particles measured between a few dozen to 200 nanometers roughly one-thousandth the width of a human hair, and too small for car filtration systems to trap.
>
>“You can’t see them, but they are inhaled and have an effect on brain neurons that raises the possibility of long-term brain health consequences of freeway air,” said senior author Caleb Finch, an expert in the effects of inflammation and holder of the ARCO/William F. Kieschnick Chair in the Neurobiology of Aging.
>
>Co-author Constantinos Sioutas, of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, developed the unique technology for collecting freeway particulates in a liquid suspension and recreating polluted air in the laboratory. This made it possible to conduct a controlled study on cultured brain cells and live animals. (For all co-authors and access to the study after the embargo lifts: <http://ehponline.org/article/info:doi/10.1289/ehp.1002973>http://ehponline.org/article/info:doi/10.1289/ehp.1002973)
>
>Exposure lasted a total of 150 hours, spread over 10 weeks, in three sessions per week lasting five hours each.
>
>“Of course this leads to the question, ‘How can we protect urban dwellers from this type of toxicity?’ And that’s a huge unknown,” Finch said.
>
>The authors hope to conduct follow-up studies on issues such as:
> * Memory functions in animals exposed to freeway particulates,
> * Effects on development of mice exposed prenatally,
> * Lifespan of exposed animals,
> * Interaction of particulates with other components of smog, such as heat and ozone,
> * Potential for recovery between periods of exposure,
> * Comparison of effects from artificially and naturally occurring nanoparticles,
> * Chemical interactions between freeway particulates and brain cells.
>
>If further studies confirm that freeway particulates pose a human health hazard, solutions will be hard to find.
>
>Even an all-electric car culture would not solve the problem on its own, Finch said.
>
>“It would certainly sharply decrease the local concentration of nanoparticles, but then at present electrical generation still depends upon other combustion processes coal that in a larger environment contribute nanoparticles anyway.
>
>“It’s a long-term global project to reduce the amount of nanoparticles around the world. Whether we clean up our cars, we still have to clean up our power generation.”
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J.H. Crawford . Carfree Cities
mailbox-WdiPhmTxsBdBDgjK7y7TUQ@public.gmane.org . http://www.carfree.com
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