Our skin plays a role in protecting the body against external attacks. Because of atmospheric pollution, it often no longer carries out its mission as it should. What’s going on ?
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Premature aging of the skin
The most documented impact concerns the 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 to pollution. and exposure to the sun”, explains the researchers from the University of Quebec in Chicoutimi. We thus observe the development of coarse and deep wrinkles, solar elastoses 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.
“Gradually the skin dries out, the complexion loses its luminosity and is marked more easily, and this, because of various environmental factors”, adds Dr. Isabelle Meurgey, specialized 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, even avoid it, and yet they develop lentigines much more prematurely than Caucasians. This proves that a factor other than the sun comes into play in pigmentation and premature aging: pollution,” the scientists continue.
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More sensitive skin
Another consequence: skin that has become sensitive. “It would seem that the number of cases of sensitive skin identified 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.
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