Poorva Chavan
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Written By: Poorva Chavan | Published : February 9, 2016 4:13 PM IST
Dark spots on face are mostly linked to agaein and are rarely associated with pollution. But a new study says that air pollution especially the one that is traffic related can cause dark spots on women's skin. Researchers believe thatgases that are emitted from vehicles are responsible for this pigmentation.
Lead author of the study Jean Krutmann IUF-Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine, Dusseldorf, Germany, says that apart from the particulate matter, traffic-related air pollution has an increased concentration of nitrogen dioxide which is usually associated with the risk of low lung function and lung cancer. However, the effects of nitrogen dioxide on human skins haven't been studied.
For the study, the researchers analysed the appearance of lentigines also known as liver spots on the face of women. Lentigines are small dark patches on the skin which first appear as small dots and may enlarge and patches may merge on the face, forearms, hands and the torso. The study which was published in the journal of Investigative Dermatology analysed two groups of women. The first group contained 806 Caucasian German Women in the age group of 67 to 80 years and spent an average of 2.6 hours a day in the sun. The second group was made of Chinese women in the age group of 28 to 70 years and spent an average of 3.5 hours a day in the sun.
The result--
The researchers did not find an association with nitrogen dioxide levels and lentigines formation on the back of the hands or forearms, but they found that nitrogen di oxide exposure increased the appearance of lentigines on cheeks of both German and Chinese women older than 50 years. Researchers concluded that nitrogen dioxide has a profound effect on lentigines formation when compared to particulate matter.
Image source: Shutterstock
