washington increased levels of air pollutants such as nitrous oxides are associated with bone damage among postmenopausal women according to a studyscientists at columbia university mailman school of public health us found that the effects were most evident on the lumbar spine with nitrous oxides no twice as damaging to the area as in normal ageingprevious studies on individual pollutants have suggested adverse effects on bone mineral density osteoporosis risk and fractures in older individualsthe latest research published in the journal eclinicalmedicine is the first to explore the connection between air pollution and bone mineral density specifically in postmenopausal women and the first to explore the effects of air pollution mixtures on bone outcomesthe researchers analysed data collected through the womens health initiative study an ethnically diverse group of 161808 over 16 lakh postmenopausal womenthey estimated air pollution pm10 no no2 and so2 exposures based on participants home addressesthe team used dualenergy xray absorptiometry to measure bone mineral density bmd at enrollment and at followup at year one year three and year sixthe magnitude of the effects of nitrogen oxides on lumbar spine bmd would amount to 122 per cent annual reductions nearly double the annual effects of age on any of the anatomical sites evaluated the researchers saidthese effects are believed to happen through bone cell death by way of oxidative damage and other mechanisms they saidour findings confirm that poor air quality may be a risk factor for bone loss independent of socioeconomic or demographic factors said study first author diddier prada an associate research scientist at columbia mailman school of public healthfor the first time we have evidence that nitrogen oxides in particular are a major contributor to bone damage and that the lumbar spine is one of the most susceptible sites of this damage prada saidstudy lead author andrea baccarelli from columbia mailman school of public health noted that improvements in air pollution exposure particularly nitrogen oxides will reduce bone damage in postmenopausal women prevent bone fractures and reduce the health cost burden associated with osteoporosis among postmenopausal womenfurther efforts should focus on detecting those at higher risk of air pollutionrelated bone damage baccarelli saidcar and truck exhaust is a major source of nitrous oxides as are the emissions from electrical power generation plantsosteoporosis impacts women more than men with 80 per cent of the estimated 10 million americans with osteoporosis being women the researchers saidpostmenopausal women are at higher risk with one in two women over 50 experiencing a bone fracture because of osteoporosis they said