(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Scientists have discovered something in the air that could be as dangerous as cigarette smoke. Researchers at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge uncovered a long-lasting free radical in the air that could explain why 10 to 15 percent of lung cancers are diagnosed in non-smokers.

According to the team, inhaling this “persistent” free radical (PFR) exposes the average person to up to 300 times more cancer-causing free radicals than smoking one cigarette.

“Free radicals from tobacco smoke have long been suspected of having extremely harmful effects on the body,” H. Barry Dellinger, Ph.D., was quoted as saying. “Based on our work, we now know that free radicals similar to those in cigarettes are also found in airborne fine particles and potentially can cause many of the same life-threatening conditions.”

Cell-damaging free radicals come from burning fuels or in photochemical processes that form ozone. They exist in the air and dissipate in less than a second. “You basically have to be in certain places to inhale transient gas-phase radicals,” Dellinger said.
 

However, persistent free radicals form on fine particle residues as gases cool in smokestacks, automotive exhaust pipes and household chimneys. They linger in the air and travel great distances. Once they’re inhaled, Dellinger believes they are absorbed into the lungs and other tissues where they contribute to DNA and cell damage.

“Tobacco smoke also contains these molecules. In the five minutes it takes a typical smoker to finish a cigarette, he or she will breathe in an equal number of PFR’s,” said Dellinger. However, researchers also stress more research is needed before scientists can make a definite link between airborne PFR’s and lung cancers.

SOURCE: 236th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, August 17, 2008