Catching a cold? It could be down to air pollution
Traffic fumes ‘damage immunity system’
IT is known as a silent killer, a blight on the modern world that causes breathing problems and heart disease.
But Scots scientists have now discovered that air pollution from traffic can even make us more vulnerable to the common cold, flu and food poisoning.
Scientists at Edinburgh Napier University found that nano-sized particles can damage the body’s immune system, making it less capable of fighting off infections and bacteria. The development is expected to prompt calls for the UK Government to step up efforts to tackle air pollution after its recently announced plans to ban the sale of new diesel and petrol cars by 2040.
Particles from air pollution, which can be found in huge concentrations in city centres and on motorways, are absorbed through the lungs or through skin contact.
They can be especially hazardous to people with pre-existing lung conditions such as asthma.
Study director Dr Peter Barlow, associate professor of immunology and infection, said: ‘This is a new find. Previous work has shown the health issues air pollution caused in the long term but this is the first study to show that air pollution exposure can interfere with the normal response of the body to types of infection such as E.coli, the common cold and influenza.’
For the study, scientists from Edinburgh, working alongside researcher Dr Fern Findlay, focused on ‘antimicrobial peptides’ – tiny molecules found in the immune systems of humans and animals, which increase in response to infection.
Previous research showed these peptides have virus-killing properties which could prove crucial in developing new anti-cold treatments.
But the new research, published in The Journal of Immunology, found that carbon particles from car exhausts could trigger changes in antimicrobial peptides, preventing them from working properly and potentially resulting in ‘an increased susceptibility to infection’.
The study was carried out in collaboration with the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the Moredun Research Institute in Midlothian.
Dr Barlow said: ‘We were extremely concerned when we found that air pollution particles could inhibit the activity of these molecules, which are absolutely essential in the fight against infection.
‘In light of these findings, we urge that strong action plans are put in place to rapidly reduce particulate air pollution in towns and cities.
‘This test was carried out in a laboratory so next we are going to conduct a nationwide study looking at data from across Scotland to see if we can understand this more fully.’
In January, environmental campaigners warned that Scotland is facing a public health crisis as a result of air pollution.
A study found that St John’s Road in Edinburgh regularly exceeded national safety standard levels of nitrogen dioxide.
The figures also showed dangerous levels of chemicals and sooty particles in towns and cities, with streets in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, Aberdeen and Perth all found to have pollution levels that exceed set European legal limits.
‘Susceptibility to infection’