Skip to content

This post is more on the theme of nanoparticles and human health. My last post was about a study that examined how inhaled nanoparticles  (for example, from air pollution) travel from the lungs to the bloodstream.

Well, today's post is about a pretty shocking 2016 air pollution nanoparticle study which examined the brains (brain tissue) of 45 dead people  (ages 3 to 92) who had lived for a long time in two places with heavy  particulate air pollution - Mexico City and Manchester, England. Some of the British people also had Alzheimer's disease or dementia.

The researchers found evidence that minute nano-sized particles of magnetite from air pollution can find their way into the brain. There are 2 forms of magnetite (which is an iron ore) - one naturally occurring (jagged edges in appearance), and one found commonly in air pollution (smooth and rounded - from being created in the high temperatures of vehicle engines or braking systems). The researchers are concerned that the air pollution nanoparticles may increase the risk for brain diseases such as Alzheimer's.

One of the researchers (Prof Barbara Maher) has previously identified magnetite particles in samples of air gathered beside a busy road in Lancaster, England and outside a power station. She suspected that similar particles may be found in the brain samples, and that is what happened. "It's dreadfully shocking. When you study the tissue you see the particles distributed between the cells and when you do a magnetic extraction there are millions of particles, millions in a single gram of brain tissue - that's a million opportunities to do damage."..."It's a whole new area to investigate to understand if these magnetite particles are causing or accelerating neurodegenerative disease."

However, it must be stressed that at this time there is no proven link between these magnetite particles and any neurodegenerative diseases. They're just wondering.... they call finding these pollution nanoparticles "suggestive observations".

From Medical Xpress: Toxic air pollution nanoparticles discovered in the human brain

Tiny magnetic particles from air pollution have for the first time been discovered to be lodged in human brains – and researchers think they could be a possible cause of Alzheimer's disease. Researchers at Lancaster University found abundant magnetite nanoparticles in the brain tissue from 37 individuals aged three to 92-years-old who lived in Mexico City and Manchester. This strongly magnetic mineral is toxic and has been implicated in the production of reactive oxygen species (free radicals) in the human brain, which are associated with neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's disease.

Professor Barbara Maher, from Lancaster Environment Centre, and colleagues (from Oxford, Glasgow, Manchester and Mexico City) used spectroscopic analysis to identify the particles as magnetite. Unlike angular magnetite particles that are believed to form naturally within the brain, most of the observed particles were spherical, with diameters up to 150 nm, some with fused surfaces, all characteristic of high-temperature formation – such as from vehicle (particularly diesel) engines or open fires. The spherical particles are often accompanied by nanoparticles containing other metals, such as platinum, nickel, and cobalt.

Professor Maher said: "The particles we found are strikingly similar to the magnetite nanospheres that are abundant in the airborne pollution found in urban settings, especially next to busy roads, and which are formed by combustion or frictional heating from vehicle engines or brakes."

Other sources of magnetite nanoparticles include open fires and poorly sealed stoves within homes. Particles smaller than 200 nm are small enough to enter the brain directly through the olfactory nerve after breathing air pollution through the nose.....The results have been published in the paper 'Magnetite pollution nanoparticles in the human brain' by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

A good discussion of the study in The Scientist: Environmental Magnetite in the Human Brain

Image of magnetite nanoparticles from the exhaust plume of a diesel engine. Credit Maher et al study, 2016.

 

 

A microscopic image shows magnetite nanoparticles in the human brain. Barbara Maher et al study, 2016.