Traffic emissions disrupt gene expression in human olfactory cells

Exposure to ultrafine particles from traffic alters the expression of many genes in human olfactory mucosa cells, a new study shows. The study, led by the University of Eastern Finland, is the first to combine an analysis of emissions from different diesel fuels and exhaust after-treatment systems with an examination of their effects in a human-derived cell model of the olfactory mucosa. The findings were published in Science of the Total Environment.

Particle emissions from road traffic have been regulated in the EU for decades, but emissions of ultrafine particles with a…