Airborne Free Radicals Could Cause 'Tobacco Diseases'

Source from:  tr.itsmyiq.com Aug 19, 2008 08/22/2008

Recently discovered free radicals that are attached to small particles of air pollution could cause lung damage and lung cancer, according to a report by Steven Reinberg for HealthDay, quoting new research. The lead researcher, H. Barry Dellinger, the Patrick F. Taylor Chair of environmental chemistry at Louisiana State University, said that if confirmed through further research, the finding could help to explain why nonsmokers developed tobacco-related diseases such as lung cancer. Reinberg reported that it had been known for years that free radicals existed in the atmosphere, and that these atoms, molecules and fragments of molecules could damage cells. But it had been thought that these free radicals, which can be produced by combustion, existed for less than a second and then disappeared, he added. "What I found out is that combustion-generated particles contain environmentally persistent free radicals," said Dellinger. "When the radicals are associated with particles, they can apparently exist indefinitely." These free radicals were reported by Dellinger to be remarkably similar to the free radicals found in cigarette tar. "The implication is you can have the same environmentally related diseases by exposure to airborne fine particles that you can get from cigarettes," he said. Dellinger noted, however, that a person would have to smoke about 300 cigarettes a day to be exposed to the same level of environmental free radicals found in moderately polluted air. Enditem