Air pollution can cause weaker bones, increase risk of fractures: Study

People living in areas of high air pollution are at a higher risk of Osteoporosis, a condition which leads to fragile bones with an increased susceptibility of fracture, a new study has suggested.

A study which was conducted by Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health that is the first to find a link between traffic fumes and fractures caused by osteoporosis.

Researchers analyzed the data on more than nine million people that enrolled in Medicare in the Northeastern US and linked pollution exposure to low levels of parathyroid hormone, which regulates calcium production, leading to weaker bones and more hospitalizations for fractures.

The study that was published in 'The Lancet Planetary Health' suggested that even a small rise in PM2.5 concentrations would lead to an increase in bone fractures in older adults.

Read more: Alcohol consumption increases risk of 7 types of cancer, claim doctors

"Decades of careful research has documented the health risks of air pollution, from cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, to cancer, and impaired cognition, and now osteoporosis", said Andrea Baccarelli, study's senior author an environmental health scientist at Columbia University, New York

"Among the many benefits of clean air, our research suggests, are improved bone health and a way to prevent bone fractures." she added.