Insulin resistance, a precursor to diabetes, could be caused by particulate air pollution, according to a recent study published in medical journal Diabetes Care.
The epidemiological study found that there was a strong association between particulates in the air that are less than 2.5 nanometers (PM2.5) in size—such as those found in haze and car exhaust—and diabetes prevalence in US counties.
Researchers compared county-by-county diabetes prevalence rates and levels of air pollution particulates. The scientists said that they controlled for other factors such as geography, ethnicity, population density, and obesity and exercise levels.
“We didn’t have data on individual exposure, so we can’t prove causality, and we can’t know exactly the mechanism of these peoples’ diabetes,” John Brownstein of the Children’s Hospital Informatics Program at Harvard said. “But pollution came across as a significant predictor in all our models.”
Previously, scientists had discovered that obese mice, when exposed to PM2.5 particulates, were more likely to develop insulin resistance.
The epidemiological study found that there was a strong association between particulates in the air that are less than 2.5 nanometers (PM2.5) in size—such as those found in haze and car exhaust—and diabetes prevalence in US counties.
Researchers compared county-by-county diabetes prevalence rates and levels of air pollution particulates. The scientists said that they controlled for other factors such as geography, ethnicity, population density, and obesity and exercise levels.
“We didn’t have data on individual exposure, so we can’t prove causality, and we can’t know exactly the mechanism of these peoples’ diabetes,” John Brownstein of the Children’s Hospital Informatics Program at Harvard said. “But pollution came across as a significant predictor in all our models.”
Previously, scientists had discovered that obese mice, when exposed to PM2.5 particulates, were more likely to develop insulin resistance.
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