Breathing in diesel exhaust fumes harms women more than men, study finds

Women suffer the ill effects of diesel fumes more than men, scientists believe – but they are not sure why.

Air pollution may be more dangerous for females than males, research suggests.

It is already known that women are more likely to suffer severe asthma that does not respond to treatment.

Researchers who looked for changes in people’s blood brought on by exposure to diesel exhaust fumes found more changes in females than males of proteins linked to inflammation, infection and cardiovascular disease.

For the study, five women and five men, all healthy non-smokers, spent four hours breathing filtered air and four hours breathing air containing diesel exhaust fumes at increasing concentrations, with a four-week break in between each exposure.

Comparing samples of their blood plasma, the researchers found levels of 90 proteins that were distinctly different between the female and male volunteers.

They included some that play a role in inflammation, damage repair, blood clotting, cardiovascular disease and the immune system, the scientists said.

Some of these differences became clearer when volunteers were exposed to the higher levels of diesel exhaust.

Neeloffer Mookherjee, of the University of Manitoba, Canada, said: “These are preliminary findings. However, they show that exposure to diesel exhaust has different effects in female bodies compared to male, and that could indicate that air pollution is more dangerous for females than males.

“This is important as respiratory diseases such as asthma are known to affect females and males differently, with females more likely to suffer severe asthma that does not respond to treatments.

“Therefore we need to know a lot more about how females and males respond to air pollution and what this means for preventing, diagnosing and treating their respiratory disease.”

Chris Carlsten, of the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, speculated that women may be worse affected because of factors including differences in lung anatomy, breathing patterns and hormones.

Zorana Andersen, chair of the European Respiratory Society Environment and Health Committee, who was not involved in the research, said: “We know that exposure to air pollution, especially diesel exhaust, is a major risk factor in diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

“There is very little we can do as individuals to avoid beathing polluted air, so we need governments to set and enforce limits on air pollutants.”