Pollution ‘alters brain function’. BBCnews.11 March 2008.The study replicated what city traffic wardens might expect to inhale An hour sniffing exhaust fumes may not just give you a headache – it could even alter the way the brain functions, Dutch researchers have suggested. Scientists have known nanoparticles reach the brain when inhaled, but this is the first time they have been shown to affect how we process information. [ See ]