Car Exhaust & Alzheimer’s — Thank You, Mickey Mouse

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New analysis from Australian and Singaporean scientists have discovered a hyperlink between automobile exhaust and Alzheimer’s. It was even on the mainstream information final evening. This opens up an entire new argument in favour of the uptake of electrical autos and the elimination of fossil fuels. It has lengthy been accepted that particles within the air pollution attributable to burning fossil fuels contribute to well being points and world warming, however someway individuals have been capable of ignore these points and nonetheless protest that the advantages of low cost power from fossil fuels outweigh the dangers. My expectation is that this new analysis will shock extra individuals into motion. There’s nothing extra private than watching a cherished one slip away into the fog of dementia.

The electrification of all the pieces is better for our health.

In a new study from the College of Expertise Sydney, wholesome mice are being uncovered to very advantageous particles of iron, magnetite, and diesel hydrocarbons. Over 4 months they developed “Alzheimer’s disease pathologies.” The mice grew to become extra careworn and anxious, signs in keeping with Alzheimer’s illness.

Magnetite is a tiny particle (smaller than the aids virus) present in air air pollution attributable to excessive temperature combustion. It’s sufficiently small to go via the blood mind barrier. Researchers on the College of Expertise in Sydney (UTS) have asserted that magnetite can induce indicators and signs of Alzheimer’s illness. Inside combustion engines (ICE) and coal fired energy stations have been discovered to supply magnetite particles. They’re additionally discovered within the mud from brake and engine put on. Magnetite particles (or nano spheres) have been discovered within the brains of cadavers from the UK and Mexico.

Affiliate Professor Gunawan, from the Australian Institute for Microbiology and An infection (AIMI), says: “Fewer than 1% of Alzheimer’s cases are inherited, so it is likely that the environment and lifestyle play a key role in the development of the disease.”

“Previous studies have indicated that people who live in areas with high levels of air pollution are at greater risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Magnetite, a magnetic iron oxide compound, has also been found in greater amounts in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease. However, this is the first study to look at whether the presence of magnetite particles in the brain can indeed lead to signs of Alzheimer’s,” she stated.

Affiliate Professor McGrath from the College of Expertise Sydney College of Life Sciences provides: “Magnetite is a quite common air pollutant. It comes from high-temperature combustion processes like vehicle exhaust, wood fires and coal-fired power stations as well as from brake pad friction and engine wear. When we inhale air pollutant, these particles of magnetite can enter the brain via the lining of the nasal passage, and from the olfactory bulb, a small structure on the bottom of the brain responsible for processing smells, bypassing the blood-brain barrier.”

Magnetite created an immune response within the mice, resulting in irritation and cell degeneration. “The magnetite-induced neurodegeneration is also independent of the disease state, with signs of Alzheimer’s seen in the brains of healthy mice,” stated Dr Charlotte Fleming, a co-first creator from the UTS College of Life Sciences.

A Google search revealed that there was a rising physique of analysis into the connection between air air pollution from automobile exhaust and the dementia epidemic. Professors Maher and Allsop from the College of Lancaster dissected the brains of cadavers from each Mexico and Lancaster, UK. Within the preamble to their 2016 studyBarbara Maher, Professor of Environmental Science at Lancaster College, and David Allsop, Professor of Neuroscience at Lancaster College, assert: “Very small, round particles made out of magnetite (called magnetite nanospheres) are abundant in city air pollution. They are formed at high temperatures and condense as iron-rich droplets as they cool. These particles range in diameter from less than 5nm (nanometres) to more than 100nm (for comparison an HIV is 120nm in diameter) and are often found together with pollution particles made out of other metals.”

They discovered that magnetite particles are immediately related to the formation of “senile plaques.” These senile plaques are clumps of irregular protein discovered between nerve cells. Magnetite nanospheres improve the toxicity of the protein within the centre of every “senile plaque.”

They “used magnetic, electron microscopic and other techniques to examine brain samples from 37 cadavers — aged three to 92 years at time of death — who had lived in Mexico City or in Manchester, UK.” They examined the brains of individuals below the age of 40 who had been uncovered to excessive ranges of air air pollution in Mexico Metropolis and in contrast them with older Manchester circumstances who had average to extreme Alzheimer’s. The samples from each teams have been extremely magnetic.

They noticed: “Most of the magnetite particles in the brain samples were spherical and different in size and shape from the magnetite particles that naturally occur in people and animals. They ranged in diameter from 5nm to 150nm and were found together with nanoparticles containing other metals, such as platinum, nickel and cobalt, which would not occur naturally in the brain. We also extracted the magnetite particles from the brains using an enzyme. The enzyme dissolved the brain tissue and left the magnetite particles intact. These particles were then extracted using a magnet. The particles were a striking match for the magnetite nano spheres found in air pollution.”

This analysis makes questionable the siting of jogging and biking tracks beside highways. Not a spot to be respiratory deeply. And it additionally raises issues with the observe of leaving the engine operating within the college pickup zone!

Right here we have now but additional and damming proof of the hurt attributable to burning fossil fuels. How will the vested pursuits counter it? Maybe by saying that electrical autos produce extra magnetite than ICE autos? That EVs are heavier and so have to make use of extra brake pads? Who is aware of. Let’s hope sense prevails and the world sees how we’re destroying the minds of these we love with this devastating air pollution.