A certain type of air pollutant seems to be linked to brain abnormalities, Elizabeth Tracey reports

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PM 2.5 stands for particulate matter 2.5 microns or less, and this category of air pollutant may well be involved in autism risk as well as cognitive issues in older adults. That’s according to Heather Volk, autism expert at Johns Hopkins. 

Volk: Epidemiologic studies to animal studies to even experimental studies in the lab show that exposure to PM 2.5 and other air pollutants increases inflammation systemically as well as in specific organs. Additionally we also have a couple papers that we published that try to look specifically at inflammation markers during pregnancy. Mothers who were exposed to PM 2.5 during pregnancy, the tricky part about this is having all of your data and your types of methods lined up so that we understand and how we're comparing what we might be finding in animal studies versus experimental studies at the bench to human studies.            :31

It's clearly unethical to expose anyone intentionally to PM 2.5 to see what its effects are but Volk says it may be one of the environmental pollutants increasingly associated with negative health outcomes. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.