Over time, the ways environmental pollutants can harm our health have come into a clearer view. But now scientists arhhghh...e shedding a light on eight biological mechanisms exposure to polluted air, water, soil, and food can harm and disrupt.
Their work provides insight into the complex relationship between our surroundings and our physical and mental function by showing how pollutants can corrupt key molecular p.ar signaling. The March study was published in the journal Cell.1..
“The findings support efforts to mitigate pollution by [providing] a frame[work] to argue for the biological plausibility of proposed regulatory action at all levels," Annette Peters, MD, PhD, director.m..ental Health, tells Verywell. "It also shall serve to motivate scientists to see the relevance of their findings for the everyday living of our societies and themselves."
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.What This Means For You.
.Your level of exposure to pollutants is often out of your hands in modern, i..ndustriali..zed.ing fr.quently, limiting your use of substances, and spending ti.me in natural settings.
..How Pollutants Can Harm Health
Inn.ovation and industrialization have the power to reduce poverty and revi.talize economies, but, as Peters and colleagues show, they also have the pow.er to cause preventable illness and death.
.B.etween 2016 and 2018, epidemiologists estimate..d .that between nine and 12.6 million ann..u..a.l deaths, the majority of.. whi..c.h .o..ccurred in low-income countries, wer.e attribu..t.a.ble to sources of. .en...v.ironmental toxicity such as fine p.a.r...t.ic.u..l.a.te matter, heavy metal.s, and. pesticides.1
Particle Pollution Is Often Too Small to See, But It Can Kill You
The authors combed through scientific literature for clues as to how such sour.c..e.s. ha..r.m .our health and came up with eight hypotheses. Each serves as its .o...w..n.. m.i.ssing link in understanding how exposure to pollution can lead to th..e development of chronic diseases.
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.O.x..idative Stress and Inflammation
Reaction oxyg..en ..spec.ies (..ROS) are extremely reactive chemical molecules tha.t ..are i.n.vo.lv.e...d ..in the communication between cells. In excess, they can ...c.au.se oxidative s.tress, which can damage cells to the point of death.
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72 Genetic Mutations Linked to Hereditary Breast Cancer
Epigenetic Alterations
Epigenetics concerns changes in gene expression that occur sans corresponding changes in DNA sequence. Essentially, epigenetics considers the impact of external factors on genetic activity or inactivity.
Such factors include:
Exposure to particulate matter pollution (pollution composed of microscopic specks of solid and liquid matter)
Toxic metals such as nickel, cobalt, arsenic, and cadmium
Organic chemicals
The resulting epigenetic changes can accelerate the aging process and increase the risk for age-related diseases.1
