The Voice

Something BAD in the Air Tonight: A Look at Air Pollution and Lung Cancer

By Grace Ballenger

Cigarette smoking gets most of the headlines when it comes to lung cancer, but the air quality outside our front door tells a much bigger story. Invisible toxins, heavy metals, and fine particulate matter all pose serious risks to our respiratory health. Let’s take a closer look at how air pollution impacts our lungs and identify some of the primary sources filling our skies.

Impacts of air pollution

air pollution impacts the health of our lungs

A 2025 Nature study shows that air pollution causes genetic mutations in non-smokers, which lead to lung cancer.1 Doctors and medical researchers classify nonsmokers as anyone who has smoked fewer than 100 cigarettes.2

The Nature study looked at the genetic structure of the lung tumors from 871 never-smokers, across 28 locations in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America. This research investigated the connection between air pollution and genetic mutations, to try to explain the rising global rates of lung cancer, particularly in women, and in Asian populations. The study found that people living in more polluted areas had significantly more mutations present in their lung tumors. 1

Although the dangers of smoking and secondhand smoke are widely recognized, authors of a study in Nature found that air pollution plays a significantly greater role in lung cancer risk than secondhand exposure. For context, the CDC (Center for Disease Control) links secondhand smoke to roughly 7,000 lung cancer deaths each year, representing 15% to 35% of cases in non-smokers. 2 Air pollution, however, extends far beyond passive smoke exposure, arising from industrial sites, motor vehicle exhaust, and household indoor sources.

Industrial Air Pollutants

Scientists have identified 187 air pollutants, but not all these pollutants cause lung cancer.3  Nevertheless, they may have a damaging impact on lungs. Comon air pollutants include:

These chemicals take the form of poisonous gas or dust and cause cancer when people are repeatedly exposed to them. Improper waste disposal also exposes workers to air pollution.3 They are most used in industries like:

Outdoor Air Pollution

With wildfire season growing longer and more intense each year, many of us have experienced firsthand what it’s like to breathe in hazy, smoke-filled air. But wildfire smoke isn’t just unpleasant—it delivers fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and hazardous toxins straight into the deepest parts of the lungs, causing acute airway inflammation. Research shows that repeated exposure carries heavy consequences: it boosts the likelihood of developing lung cancer, accelerates its spread, and reduces survival rates for those currently in treatment.

The Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics (DCEG) is also studying the impacts of outdoor air pollution from traffic. They note that 25% of lung cancer cases occur in never-smokers,6 although other sources put that number between 10 and 20%2. Scientists and researchers at DCEG are looking at the tiny particles in traffic pollution as one of the major potential causes of lung cancer (and other types of cancer) in non-smokers. One Los Angeles study examined the link between ultrafine particles and lung cancer. The levels of these ultrafine particles can vary quite largely based on where you are, and by using a population that had a high number of lung cancer cases, information on smoking habits and where the subjects had lived before researchers were able to look at the links between these factors.6 They found that there was some correlation between people who lived in areas with lots of ultrafine particles and developed lung cancer despite not smoking, or not smoking anymore. Men, particularly older men, were more likely to develop adenocarcinoma, and current smokers were least impacted by ultrafine particles.6

If you are concerned about outdoor air pollution, there are ways to limit your exposure. Check your air quality regularly and choose indoor workouts on days when the air quality looks bad. Don’t dispose of garbage by burning it and avoid burning things like firewood as well.2

Indoor Air Pollution

Many cleaning supplies or household products can irritate the eyes or throat, or cause headaches and other health problems. Some products release dangerous chemicals, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs are chemicals that vaporize at room temperature. Even natural fragrances such as citrus can react, creating dangerous pollutants indoors. The direct link between indoor cleaning chemicals and lung cancer is primarily established through long-term occupational exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and specific carcinogens, rather than casual home use. While daily household use causes significant airway irritation and lung function decline, large-scale epidemiological data indicates that professional cleaners—particularly women—face a distinct and statistically significant elevated risk of developing lung cancer.

Cleaning supplies and household products containing VOCs and other toxic substances can include, but are not limited to:

Some air pollutants are harmless in certain contexts but can be harmful in others. When uranium breaks down, it produces a gas called radon, which is not harmful when it occurs in soil because the concentrations are so low, but can be harmful in greater concentrations when it occurs indoors.2

Fortunately, there are kits to test for radon, which are even offered for free in some places. If a test reveals that your home is high in radon there are services that you can use to mitigate the issue.2   

Sources

  1. Air Pollution May Contribute to Development of Lung Cancer in Never-smokers, New Study Finds |  Lung Cancer Foundation of America (LCFA)
  2. Lung Cancer in Nonsmokers: Causes, Risk Factors, Statistics | healthgrades
  3. Hazardous Air Pollutants and Chemical Effects on Lung Cancer | Lung Cancer Center
  4. Other Lung Cancer Risk Factors | GO2 for Lung Cancer
  5. What we study: Air Pollutants | National Cancer Institute (NCI)
  6. What we study: Traffic-Related Outdoor Air Pollution | National Cancer Institute (NCI)