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Chemical Senses Advance Access originally published online on October 9, 2009
Chemical Senses 2009 34(9):819-826; doi:10.1093/chemse/bjp071
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Mexico City Air Pollution Adversely Affects Olfactory Function and Intranasal Trigeminal Sensitivity

Marco Guarneros1, Thomas Hummel2, Margaríta Martínez-Gómez1,3 and Robyn Hudson1

1 Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, AP 70228, CP 04510, Distrito Federal, Mexico 2 Smell and Taste Clinic, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Dresden Medical School, Fetscherstrasse 74, 01307, Dresden, Germany 3 Centro Tlaxcala de Biología de la Conducta, Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, AP 262, CP 90070, Tlaxcala, Mexico

Correspondence to be sent to: Robyn Hudson, Departamento de Biología Celular y Fisiología, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, AP 70228, CP 04510 México DF, Mexico. e-mail: rhudson{at}biomedicas.unam.mx


  Abstract

Surprisingly little is known about the effects of big-city air pollution on olfactory function and even less about its effects on the intranasal trigeminal system, which elicits sensations like burning, stinging, pungent, or fresh and contributes to the overall chemosensory experience. Using the Sniffin’ Sticks olfactory test battery and an established test for intranasal trigeminal perception, we compared the olfactory performance and trigeminal sensitivity of residents of Mexico City, a region with high air pollution, with the performance of a control population from the Mexican state of Tlaxcala, a geographically comparable but less polluted region. We compared the ability of 30 young adults from each location to detect a rose-like odor (2-phenyl ethanol), to discriminate between different odorants, and to identify several other common odorants. The control subjects from Tlaxcala detected 2-phenyl ethanol at significantly lower concentrations than the Mexico City subjects, they could discriminate between odorants significantly better, and they performed significantly better in the test of trigeminal sensitivity. We conclude that Mexico City air pollution impairs olfactory function and intranasal trigeminal sensitivity, even in otherwise healthy young adults.

Key words: air pollution, humans, olfactory function, trigeminal sensitivity

Accepted 14 September 2009


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