Haze and Aging – Can the haze negatively impact the aging process?
Causes of aging is multi-factorial – environment, genetic, lifestyle choices eg. cigarette smoking, chronic stress, habitual alcohol consumption, etc. In the recent weeks, with the haze lingering and never seems to be waning, many of us have wondered if the haze can negatively impact the aging process.
Unfortunately for us, the answer is yes. Our skin is built to be a barrier to the external environment. However, it is still susceptible to small particle in the air.
The air quality is now measured using the PM2.5 – it refers to Atmospheric Particulate Matter with diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less. For size, human hair is 50-70 micrometers in diameter while the common dust, mold or pollen are around 10 micrometers in diameter.
PM can act as carrier of both organic and inorganic compounds - Vierkötter et al (2010) revealed that PM carries highly lipophilic organic compounds such as Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) that can easily penetrate our skin. Furthermore, PAHs are potent activators of the inflammatory pathways.
It is now known that PM may trigger oxidative stress, increases inflammatory response and accelerates apoptotic (cell death) processes (Magnani et al; 2015).
Above: Air pollution particles smaller than 2.5 mm increase skin tissue cytotoxicity. Cytotoxicity evaluation by lactate dehydrogenase release in reconstructed human epidermis (RHE) maintenance media after 24 (h) or 48 h (n) exposure to 25 or 100 lg CAPs/ml measured by an enzymatic assay.
It does sound all doom and gloom after reading this.
My advice is to protect your skin by ensuring that it is adequately moisturized. We should thoroughly cleanse the skin after being out for prolonged periods of time. However, do not overdo it - excessive cleansing will remove the protective oily layer on the skin.
When this protective layer is gone, the skin will be even more susceptible to trans-epidermal water loss that will lead to excessive drying of skin and disruption of barrier when micro-cracks start to form.
Cut down smoking so that your skin gets the oxygen it deserves. Take anti-oxidants that are so ubiquitous in green tea, fruits and vegetables – these will slow down the breakdown of important collagen that keeps the skin hydrated and the barrier intact.
References:
Skin Damage Mechanisms Related to Airborne Particulate Matter Exposure. Natalia D. Magnani, Ximena M. Muresan, Giuseppe Belmonte, Franco Cervellati, Claudia Sticozzi, Alessandra Pecorelli, Clelia Miracco, Timoteo Marchini, Pablo Evelson, and Giuseppe Valacchi. Toxicology SCIENCES, 149(1), 2016, 227–236 doi: 10.1093/toxsci/kfv230
Airborne particle exposure and extrinsic skin aging. Vierkötter A, Schikowski T, Ranft U, Sugiri D, Matsui M, Krämer U, Krutmann J. J Invest Dermatol. 2010 Dec;130(12):2719-26. doi: 10.1038/jid.2010.204. Epub 2010 Jul 22.