Pollution particles 'get into brain' - BBC News
Magnetite can occur naturally in the brain in tiny quantities but the particles formed that way are distinctively jagged.
By contrast, the particles found in the study were not only far more numerous but also smooth and rounded - characteristics that can only be created in the high temperatures of a vehicle engine or braking systems.
Prof Maher said: "They are spherical shapes and they have little crystallites around their surfaces, and they occur with other metals like platinum which comes from catalytic converters.
"So for the first time we saw these pollution particles inside the human brain.
"It's a discovery finding. It's a whole new area to investigate to understand if these magnetite particles are causing or accelerating neurodegenerative disease."
For every one natural magnetite particle identified, the researchers found about 100 of the pollution-derived ones.
(still loathe cars ...
)
(on Magnetite Magnetite - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
on study Toxic air pollution nanoparticles discovered in the human brain | Lancaster University )
Magnetite can occur naturally in the brain in tiny quantities but the particles formed that way are distinctively jagged.
By contrast, the particles found in the study were not only far more numerous but also smooth and rounded - characteristics that can only be created in the high temperatures of a vehicle engine or braking systems.
Prof Maher said: "They are spherical shapes and they have little crystallites around their surfaces, and they occur with other metals like platinum which comes from catalytic converters.
"So for the first time we saw these pollution particles inside the human brain.
"It's a discovery finding. It's a whole new area to investigate to understand if these magnetite particles are causing or accelerating neurodegenerative disease."
For every one natural magnetite particle identified, the researchers found about 100 of the pollution-derived ones.
(still loathe cars ...
)(on Magnetite Magnetite - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
on study Toxic air pollution nanoparticles discovered in the human brain | Lancaster University )
