New research indicates that exposure to diesel exhaust may cause long-term damage to brain function. The study, conducted by "Particle and Fibre Toxicology" tracked the effects of the nanoparticles found in diesel exhaust. Earlier studies have demonstrated that the nanoparticles were capable of traveling to subjects' brains after being inhaled. This was the first research to analyze how these particles affected brain function.
Researchers put 10 volunteers in a room filled with a level of diesel exhaust on par with a busy city road. EEGs recorded the participants' brain wave functions, which revealed a “significant increase in MPF (median power frequency) in response to DE (dilute diesel exhaust) in the frontal cortex within 30 minutes of exposure.” Although more research is needed to pinpoint how this stress would manifest itself, or which functions of the brain could be impaired, early indications are that brain damage can be added to respiratory and cardiovascular disease on the list of automobile exhaust-caused illnesses.
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