Driving during rush hour may expose you to harmful particulate matter

Do you know that driving a car on a busy road is not good for health. A new study warns that high levels of some harmful particulate matter is found in car cabins and its amount is two times more than it was previously thought.

According to the findings, pollution inside the cars had twice the amount of chemicals that caused oxidative stress which is generally thought to lead to the development of many diseases that include respiratory and heart disease, cancer and some types of neuro-degenerative diseases.

"We found that people are likely getting a double whammy of exposure in terms of health during rush-hour commutes," said Michael Bergin, professor at the Duke University in North Carolina. 

The body may start producing chemicals to deal with the reactive oxygen due to pollutants while particulate matter also causes the same response.

The researchers told that the exposure also causes overreaction which can be harmful to the healthy cells and DNA.

Researchers, to find out what drivers are actually exposed to during the rush hours, from strapped specially designed sampling devices that inhale air at a rate similar to human lungs- into the passenger seats of cars more than 30 different cars as more than 60 rush hour commutes in downtown Australia were completed.

Particulate matter up to as much as two times was detected by the devices.

"And morning sun heats the roadways, which causes an updraft that brings more pollution higher into the air," Vreeland added. 

"If these chemicals are as bad for people as many researchers believe, then commuters should seriously be rethinking their driving habits," Bergin added.