Pollution: what effects on our skin?

Gray complexion, premature aging, skin irritation... Our skin suffers from exposure to air pollution. How exactly?

Our skin plays a role in protecting the body against external attacks. Because of atmospheric pollution, it often no longer fulfills its mission as it should. What is going on ?

The most documented impact concerns premature aging of the skin. “All the studies carried out agree on the fact that environmental pollution accelerates skin aging and dermatologists explain that 80% of this is linked to the environment, that is to say pollution and exposure to the sun,” explains researchers from the University of Quebec at Chicoutimi. We thus observe the development of coarse and deep wrinkles, solar elastosis and pigment spots.

Not to mention that its ability to maintain permanent cell renewal and regulation of skin hydration are blocked by the effect of pollution. “Little by little the skin dries out, the complexion loses its luminosity and becomes marked more easily, due to various environmental factors,” adds Dr. Isabelle Meurgey, specialist in aesthetic medicine.

The cause ? A study carried out on 400 Chinese women aged 40 to 90 in the Beijing region highlighted the link between PM2.5 and the increase in cases of senile lentigo. “Asians expose themselves very little to the sun, or even avoid it, and yet they develop lentigo much more prematurely than Caucasians. This clearly proves that a factor other than the sun comes into play in pigmentation and premature aging: pollution,” the scientists continue.

Another consequence: skin that becomes sensitive. “It seems that the number of cases of sensitive skin recorded is greater in industrialized countries, particularly in Asia,” they add. Atopic dermatitis is also increasingly common in children, with often combined causes: genetic and environmental origins.

Source : University of Quebec at Chicoutimi – site of Dr Isabelle Meurgey, aesthetic medicine