Nanoparticles from diesel fumes alter brain activity, according to the researchers behind a new study. Several sections of the media have picked this up:

Pollution ‘alters brain function’ – BBC

Diesel fumes can affect your brain, scientists say – Reuters

Pollution alters brain function: Study – Times of India

Paul Borm from Zuyd University in The Netherlands put ten volunteers in a room for an hour, where they were exposed to diesel exhaust. They were also exposed to clean air so the trial was blinded. After 30 minutes changes in the brain’s electrical activity were recorded on electroencephalographs (research paper published in Particle and Fibre Toxicology, abstract / pdf).

“We believe our findings are due to an effect nanoparticles or ‘soot’ particles that are major component of diesel exhaust,” says Borm (press release). “These may penetrate to the brain and affect brain function. We can only speculate what these effects may mean for the chronic exposure to air pollution encountered in busy cities where the levels of such soot particles can be very high.”

The EEG showed a stress response, signalling a change in the way the brain was processing information. This continued after the volunteers had left the room, although measurements were only continued for an hour so it’s not clear for how long.

It isn’t hugely surprising that your brain starts behaving differently when you’ve been doing the equivalent of sucking on a tailpipe for 30 minutes, and ten people is hardly a large study. Still, as Ken Donaldson, a respiratory expert from the University of Edinburgh, told the BBC, “… such physiological changes do warrant investigation because there could indeed be a long-term effect. It’s a very interesting, and potentially important, study."

Image: Getty