Destination brain

Inhaled pollutants may inflame more than the lungs

When Lilian Calderón-Garcidueñas recruited children for a study probing the effects of air pollution, Ana was just 7. The trim girl with an above-average IQ of 113 “was bright, very beautiful and clinically healthy,” the physician and toxicologist recalls.

DESTINATION BRAIN Tiny inhaled motes can travel beyond the lungs; new research suggests these particles may ravage the brain.