As if you needed another reason to not hit the roads right now, a new study from the University of British Columbia found that sitting in traffic for just two hours is enough time to cause brain damage!
And it's not the frustration from other drivers who don't know how to merge or always conveniently forget to use their turn signals, it has to do with pollution.
Chris Carlsten, a professor and head of respiratory medicine and the Canada Research Chair in occupational and environmental lung disease at UBC, said in a university release, "For many decades, scientists thought the brain may be protected from the harmful effects of air pollution.
"This study, which is the first of its kind in the world, provides fresh evidence supporting a connection between air pollution and cognition."
The team at the university says that brain scans show increased impairments in brain function after exposure to traffic pollution, and signs of decreased brain function started to appear in as little as two hours.
Thankfully, the study also found the negative effects from the traffic pollution were temporary; every person exposed to air pollution had their brain activity return to normal.
However, the study authors believe that long-term exposure, like sitting in a traffic jam every single day, may cause more permanent damage.
While we don't know how much car exhaust could cause long-lasting brain damage, Dr. Carlsten says it's better to minimize any exposure in the first place.
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