A study conducted by a team of Indian-origin researchers has found that the impact of breathing diesel exhaust fumes may be more severe for women than men. The research by Dr Hemshekhar Mahadevappa, Professor Neeloffer Mookherjee from the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada and Chris Carlsten at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada will be presented at the European Respiratory Society International Congress in Barcelona, Spain, next week.

The researchers looked for changes in people's blood brought about by exposure to diesel exhaust. In both females and males, they found changes in components of the blood related to inflammation, infection and cardiovascular disease, but they found more changes in females than males.