Lung tumors in people who have never smoked show DNA mutations linked to air pollution, suggesting a major environmental role in the disease’s global surge.
Ian Sample reports for The Guardian.
In short:
- A global study of 871 never-smokers found a direct connection between fine-particle air pollution and cancer-driving DNA mutations in lung tumors.
- Specific mutations tied to smoking, including those in the TP53 gene, were also found in patients exposed to air pollution, suggesting similar damage pathways.
- Some never-smokers from Taiwan showed genetic signatures linked to aristolochic acid, a toxin found in certain Chinese herbal medicines, adding another environmental risk.
Key quote:
“Our research shows that air pollution is strongly associated with the same types of DNA mutations we typically associate with smoking.”
— Ludmil Alexandrov, professor at the University of California, San Diego and senior author on the study
Why this matters:
Lung cancer remains the deadliest form of cancer worldwide, and a growing share of cases now appear in people who have never smoked — a shift that challenges old assumptions about risk. As smoking rates fall, attention is turning to environmental triggers like air pollution. Fine particulate matter, especially in urban and industrial regions, penetrates deep into the lungs and can damage DNA directly, speeding up the kind of mutations long linked to cigarettes. That this risk now mirrors the genetic signature of smoking raises urgent public health concerns, particularly in regions with high pollution and limited regulation.
Related EHN coverage: Study suggests pollution plays an outsized role in western Pennsylvania cancer rates
