A Study On Particulate Pollution and Human DNA

The earth environment that surrounds us on a day to day basis has been proven to be quite polluted, especially in certain areas of the world or locations such as offices or workplaces. The heavy metals and toxins that we can be exposed to, such as mercury and asbestos, have been known to cause diseases in animals and humans. Research is ongoing regarding the genetic affects that this pollution can have on us.

A recent study focused on this issue and the rate at which pollution can damage or change DNA. It was performed by Dr. Andrea Baccarelli and a team of scientists from the Center of Molecular and Genetic Epidemiology (Department of Environmental and Occupational Health University of Milan, Italy). This study used the DNA of 63 healthy foundry workers in Italy. Blood DNA samples were collected on the morning of the first day of the work week and again after three days of work. The study compared the samples taken on the different days and proved that the environmental pollution absorbed by the workers caused some genes to become reprogrammed, which in turn affects both the development and the outcome of cancers and other diseases, and that significant changes had occurred in four genes associated with tumor suppression in such a short period of time.

According to Dr. Baccarelli, “The changes were detectable after only three days of exposure to particulate matter, indicating that environmental factors need little time to cause gene reprogramming which is potentially associated with disease outcomes. As several of the effects of particulate matter in foundries are similar to those found after exposure to ambient air pollution, our results open new hypotheses about how air pollutants modify human health.”