Scientists have linked air pollution to kidney and bladder cancer, saying toxic particles in the environment may cause harm beyond the lungs.

According to the findings of a new study published in the journal ‘Environmental Health Perspectives’, microscopic ‘PM2.5’ particles from car exhausts can raise someone’s risk of dying from kidney or bladder cancer by almost 15 per cent.

The researchers said going by this study, people living near busy roads, exposed to nitrogen dioxide from diesel cars especially, see their danger of death from bowel cancer rise by six per cent. Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light.

Pollutants, the components of pollution, can be either foreign substances/energies or naturally occurring contaminants. Pollution in British towns and cities are linked to 40,000 premature deaths a year, with heart disease and stroke the biggest causes, the ‘Telegraphuk’ reported. Lung cancer is one of the next largest killers, but there has been little evidence on other types of cancer.

Now a study led by the Barcelona Institute of Global Health has quantified the danger in a 22-year study of more than 600,000 people in the United States (US).

Dr. Michelle Turner, first author of the study, said: “This research suggests that air pollution was not associated with death from most non-lung cancers, but the associations with kidney, bladder and colorectal cancer deserve further investigation.”

The new study looked at pollution alongside deaths from cancer in 29 parts of the body, and found links with kidney, bladder and bowel cancer. The threat for kidney and bladder cancer came from PM2.5 particles, which are so microscopic they are inhaled deep into the lungs. Measured in milligrammes per metre cubed (ug/m3), around one in 10 come from road transport.

•Text courtesy of New Telegraph.

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