Transport smoke is harmful to health because the polluting particles in it are able to penetrate deeply into the tissues of the lungs, and even pass directly into the blood; Exposure to secondhand smoke can cause DNA damage, which potentially increases the risk of cancer
Avi Blizovsky
https://www.hayadan.org.il/cancersmoke.html
Exposure to secondhand smoke can cause DNA damage, which potentially increases the risk of cancer. Scientists at the National Defense Medical Center in Taiwan discovered extremely high levels of a key chemical - 8-OHdG in the urine of highway tollbooth operators.
High levels of 80OHdG are a sign of DNA damage caused by particles called free radicals that appear in several types of air pollution. The details of the study were published in "Environmental and Professional Medicine".
The research team carried out tests on 47 women who worked at toll booths on the expressway, especially in particularly busy areas in southern Taipa. The results were compared to tests performed among female office workers who were not exposed to traffic smoke in the same way.
The researchers analyzed the urine samples according to the levels of 8-OHdG and a second chemical, 1-OHPG, which is produced by the breakdown of pollutants found in traffic smoke. Blood samples were also taken to measure levels of nitric oxide – another sign of possible tissue damage caused by exposure to traffic smoke.
Increased exposure
The female workers worked eight-hour shifts for four consecutive days before taking a day off. During the shift, they got a break of between 30-45 minutes every few hours. They changed lanes regularly, working in a system of regular rotation.
The levels of 8OHdG in the urine were on average 90% higher in the non-smoking women who worked in these booths than in the women who worked in the office. Nitric oxide levels were on average 30% higher.
1-OHPG levels were found to be strongly related to 8OHdG levels. The higher the 1-OHPG, the higher the *OHdG levels.
According to the researchers, the results indicate that the traffic smoke encourages the free radicals to be active and therefore also causes damage to the DNA. They call for curbing air pollution from traffic to protect people's health.
Traffic smoke is a complex system created by the combustion process and includes hundreds of pollutants. Tiny particles in the air are particularly harmful to health because they are able to penetrate deeply into the tissues of the lungs, and even pass directly into the blood. It has already been proven in previous studies that children living near busy roads suffer more often from asthma attacks.
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