Where does air pollution go inside our body?
Inside Health
BBC
4.4 • 575 Ratings
🗓️ 27 January 2026
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
James Gallagher stands by four lanes of traffic and inhales exhaust fumes all to see if he can see air pollution in his body. He looks at an intriguing finding that an mRNA vaccine might benefit people being treated with immunotherapy for some cancers and could we be on the cusp of a holy grail in dentistry? A breakthrough could mean we will soon be able to replace the enamel on our teeth. Presenter: James Gallagher Producer: Tom Bonnett Researcher: Thom Hunt Editor: Ilan Goodman
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio Podcasts. |
| 0:05.7 | Hello, you're about to listen to a BBC podcast, and I'm Ed Gamble, host of another BBC podcast, The Traitors Uncloaked. |
| 0:12.7 | But my show is available only on BBC Sounds, just like Ellis and John's Saturday bonus episodes, |
| 0:18.2 | The Pop Top Ten podcast with Scott Mills and Rylan, and comedy specials |
| 0:22.2 | from the likes of Harriet Kemsley, Susie Ruffle and Rommashranganathan. However, and maybe I'm biased, |
| 0:27.9 | it's really all about the traitors uncoaked. So for a whole bunch of exclusive scoops and |
| 0:32.6 | podcasts, listen only on BBC Sounds. Hello there and welcome to the Inside Health podcast. I'm James Gallagher, |
| 0:39.5 | and I've been standing next to an incredibly busy road just for you. |
| 0:43.7 | Ten more minutes. |
| 0:44.8 | If I get frostbite, it's on you. |
| 0:47.2 | Well, we're going to find out where air pollution goes when we breathe it in. |
| 0:51.5 | Also today have scientists finally cracked the holy grail of dentistry. |
| 0:56.7 | We're going to meet the team that thinks they found a way to grow new tooth enamel. |
| 1:01.0 | And we'll be unpicking the evidence around mRNA vaccines for COVID, seemingly boosting our |
| 1:06.9 | ability to fight cancer. But first, let's focus on air pollution because the latest report |
| 1:12.5 | by the Royal College of Physicians links dirty air to around 30,000 deaths a year in the UK. Air |
| 1:19.0 | pollution's thought to play a role in diseases such as asthma, heart attacks and dementia. So what |
| 1:24.9 | happens to air pollution once we breathe it in? Well, a team of researchers |
| 1:29.7 | wanted to borrow my lungs to find out, and that's how I found myself standing next to four |
| 1:35.2 | lanes of busy traffic in the freezing cold. But thankfully, I have Professor Jonathan |
| 1:40.0 | Grigg from Queen Mary University of London for company. So Jonathan, where are we? |
| 1:45.9 | Well, we're in the heart of Whitechapel |
... |
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