Newsflash: pollution is bad for you! Ok this might not be news, but a study reveals that it may be worse than we think.

The study tracked steel-foundry workers in Italy and found that breathing in polluted air doesn’t just damage the lungs; it can do some serious damage to our DNA, reprogramming genes in as little as three days, increasing rates of cancer and disease.

Scientists think the same damage can occur in normal city dwellers who breath in mildly polluted air everyday, but that it would take months instead of days for the damage to show up. DNA that is damaged includes the genes that suppress tumors and cancer growths. While the link between lung cancer and pollution has been established, the actual morphing of DNA is an alarming discovery, and other scientists say the findings needs more support than the 63 Italian men who participated in the most recent study.

What do you think – does think make you nervous about living in a city or glad that you don’t? Find out what you can do to stop pollution in its tracks.