Diesel fumes can affect your brain

London: Inhaling diesel exhaust triggers a stress response in the brain that may have damaging long-term effects on brain function, Dutch researchers said on Monday.

Previous studies have found very small particles of soot, or nanoparticles, are able to travel from the nose and lodge in the brain.

But this is the first time researchers have demonstrated a change in brain activity.

"We can only speculate what these effects may mean for the chronic exposure to air pollution encountered in busy cities where the levels of such soot particles can be very high," said lead researcher Paul Borm from Zuyd University.

Borm and his team put 10 volunteers in a room filled with exhaust from a diesel engine for one hour and monitored their brain waves with an electroencephalograph (EEG). The level of fumes was similar to that found on a busy road or in a garage.

After about 30 minutes, brain wave patterns displayed a stress response, suggesting changes in information processing in the brain cortex.