High levels of traffic-related air pollution may lead to a specific type of DNA damage called telomere shortening in children and teenagers warns a study. Young people with asthma also have evidence of telomere shortening a type of DNA damage typically associated with ageing according to the study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Our results suggest that telomere length may have potential for use as a biomarker of DNA damage due to environmental exposures and/or chronic inflammation said the study by John Balmes of University of California Berkeley and colleagues. Telomeres might also provide new insights
