What is the impact to health and Immunity if we inhale smoke pollutants from vehicles?

Inhaled particles from environmental pollutants accumulate over decades inside immune cells in lymph nodes associated with the lung, eventually weakening the cells’ ability to fight respiratory infections. These pollutants can lead to lung infection and cancer. As we know, hydrocarbons are not very good for human health. They can cause heart disease, aggravate asthma, damage the central nervous system and make breathing difficult.  Lung Damage – Not only can air pollution suppress the normal growth rate of lungs in children but it can also speed up the decline of lung function in adults and possibly cause lung cancer. . The biggest health threat from smoke is from fine particles.

These microscopic particles can penetrate deep into your lungs. They can cause a range of health problems, from burning eyes and a runny nose to aggravated chronic heart and lung diseases. Exposure to particle pollution is even linked to premature death. Chronic breathing of polluted air causes cardio-respiratory diseases. Inhaling dirty air can trigger the release of white blood cells into the bloodstream and can result in inflammation. The presence of fine particulate matter triggers imbalance in the immune system. Molecules present in the cells, when they are exposed to particulate matter, can start reacting. The molecules start changing structures and activate toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4). TLR4 identifies the specific characteristics of pathogens and activates the white blood cells.

Glencross et al.,in the article entitled “Air pollution and its effects on the immune system” in the journal of Free Radical Biology and Medicine [151(1), 2020] emphasized that the immune system itself consists of multiple types of immune cell that act together to generate (or fail to generate) immune responses and in this article we review evidence of how air pollutants can affect different immune cell types such as particle-clearing macrophages, inflammatory neutrophils, dendritic cells that orchestrate adaptive immune responses and lymphocytes that enact those responses. Common themes that emerge are of the capacity of air pollutants to stimulate pro-inflammatory immune responses across multiple classes of immune cell. Air pollution can enhance T helper lymphocyte type 2 (Th2) and T helper lymphocyte type 17 (Th17) adaptive immune responses, as seen in allergy and asthma, and dysregulate anti-viral immune responses. The clinical effects of air pollution, in particular the known association between elevated ambient pollution and exacerbations of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), are consistent with these identified immunological mechanisms. further stated that the  inhaled air pollution deposits primarily on the respiratory mucosa this review focuses on mechanisms of respiratory disease.

Challaraj Emmanuel E S