Children exposed to the common pollutant naphthalene show signs of chromosomal damage

Naphthalene is best known as the key ingredient in mothballs

According to a new study, children exposed to high levels of the
common air pollutant naphthalene are at increased risk for chromosomal
aberrations (CAs), which have been previously associated with cancer.
These include chromosomal translocations, a potentially more harmful and
long-lasting subtype of CAs.
Researchers from the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental
Health (CCCEH) at the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia
University Medical Center, and the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) report the new findings in Cancer, Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Naphthalene is found in both outdoor and indoor urban air. It is
present in automotive exhaust, tobacco smoke, and is the primary
component of household mothball fumes. Classified as a possible
carcinogen by the International Agency for Cancer Research, naphthalene
belongs to a class of air pollutants called polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons (PAH). Prior research at the CCCEH has established a link
between prenatal exposure to PAH and increased risk for childhood
obesity, IQ deficits, and CAs. The new study is the first to present
evidence in humans of CAs, including translocations, associated with
exposure to one specific PAH - naphthalene - during childhood.
The researchers followed 113 children, age 5, who are part of a
larger cohort study in New York City. They assessed the children's
exposure to naphthalene; a CDC laboratory measured levels of its
metabolites - 1- and 2-naphthol - in urine samples. (Metabolites are
products of the body's metabolism, and can serve as marker for the
presence of a chemical.) Researchers also measured CAs in the children's
white blood cells using a technique called fluorescent in situ
hybridization. Chromosomal aberrations were present in 30 children; of
these, 11 had translocations. With every doubling of levels of 1- and
2-naphthol, translocations were 1.55 and 1.92 times more likely,
respectively, to occur.

Read the whole story: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-05/cums-cet052912.php

Read why you should be concerned:

http://www.naturalnews.com