Posted with permission from the Hamilton Spectator.
Eric McGuinness
The Hamilton Spectator
(Jan 16, 2008)
A new study of laboratory mice on the Hamilton Beach Strip confirms that pollution from QEW traffic and steel mills causes sperm mutations that are passed on to their offspring.
In a paper published in a U.S. journal Monday, the scientists said the implications for human health are unclear, but the changes have the potential to affect incidence of disease in descendants of the exposed rodents.
McMaster University professor Brian McCarry, chair of Clean Air Hamilton, reviewed the paper yesterday and said: "There are a lot of unknowns to this genetic damage, but where there's smoke, there may be fire."
He agreed with the authors who wrote, "Potential health effects warrant extensive further investigation."
Health Canada researchers who led the study say their findings suggest the cause is fine, dustlike particulate pollution -- already linked to increased respiratory and cardiovascular disease -- rather than cancer-causing, gene-damaging, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and other gases spewing from tailpipes and coke ovens.
Lead researcher Carole Yauk, who is on maternity leave and unavailable for comment, worked with McMaster biologist Jim Quinn on a groundbreaking study seven years ago that was the first in the world to show urban air pollution causes mouse gene mutations passed from one generation to the next.
A 2004 study at the same Hamilton site found mature male mice breathing polluted outside air had 50 per cent more sperm mutations than those breathing filtered air. The latest study, analyzing a piece of DNA known to be highly susceptible to mutation, revealed a 60 per cent increase in mutations after exposure to outside air for 10 weeks, reinforcing the earlier results.
McCarry, one of a group of researchers seeking a grant to look at second and third generations, "the kids of kids," said that while gases have been shown to be irrelevant, it isn't clear whether the mutations are triggered by particles themselves, mutagenic chemicals attached to the particles or a combination.
emcguinness@thespec.com
905-526-4650
Eric McGuinness
The Hamilton Spectator
(Jan 16, 2008)
A new study of laboratory mice on the Hamilton Beach Strip confirms that pollution from QEW traffic and steel mills causes sperm mutations that are passed on to their offspring.
In a paper published in a U.S. journal Monday, the scientists said the implications for human health are unclear, but the changes have the potential to affect incidence of disease in descendants of the exposed rodents.
McMaster University professor Brian McCarry, chair of Clean Air Hamilton, reviewed the paper yesterday and said: "There are a lot of unknowns to this genetic damage, but where there's smoke, there may be fire."
He agreed with the authors who wrote, "Potential health effects warrant extensive further investigation."
Health Canada researchers who led the study say their findings suggest the cause is fine, dustlike particulate pollution -- already linked to increased respiratory and cardiovascular disease -- rather than cancer-causing, gene-damaging, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and other gases spewing from tailpipes and coke ovens.
Lead researcher Carole Yauk, who is on maternity leave and unavailable for comment, worked with McMaster biologist Jim Quinn on a groundbreaking study seven years ago that was the first in the world to show urban air pollution causes mouse gene mutations passed from one generation to the next.
A 2004 study at the same Hamilton site found mature male mice breathing polluted outside air had 50 per cent more sperm mutations than those breathing filtered air. The latest study, analyzing a piece of DNA known to be highly susceptible to mutation, revealed a 60 per cent increase in mutations after exposure to outside air for 10 weeks, reinforcing the earlier results.
McCarry, one of a group of researchers seeking a grant to look at second and third generations, "the kids of kids," said that while gases have been shown to be irrelevant, it isn't clear whether the mutations are triggered by particles themselves, mutagenic chemicals attached to the particles or a combination.
emcguinness@thespec.com
905-526-4650