A total of 33,000 people were studied and found that exposure to fine particles of air pollution was absorbed into lung cells and tissues within a short period of three years, causing genetic changes. It turns into cancer. It can also be exported. Even healthy lungs become cancerous within a short period of time.
Charles Swinton of the Francis Crick Institute in the UK and his colleagues said that cells are healthy under normal conditions, but many types of pollution can cause them to become cancerous and cause gene mutations.
Studies of thousands of people have shown that air pollution particles increase the risk of epidermal growth factor (EGFR). Even non-smokers can get cancer.
At a conservative estimate, particles up to 2.5 micrometers in pollution can be particularly carcinogenic. But the effects of these same particles on heart disease and lung cancer are also apparent and certain.
This was also confirmed in mice, meaning they were exposed to particles as small as 2.5 micrometers and had an increased risk of lung cancer.
On the other hand, in a long-term study of 32,957 people from the UK, South Korea and Taiwan, those exposed to 2.5-micrometer particles had EGFR mutations that eventually led to cancer. This was then compared with data from a further 407,509 individuals whose data was obtained from the UK Biobank.
Experts have come to the conclusion that 2.5-micrometer particles in polluted air can cause cancer through genetic modification which has been proven in thousands of people.
