Our modern societies produce a lot of pollution, and although there are more and more people and governments willing to decrease their emissions, people are still heavily exposed to pollutants.
In fact, not only are we exposed to outdoor pollution (cigarette smoke, exhaust, ozone, sun radiations…), we are also exposed to indoor pollution (house dust often rich in heavy metals, artificial light…). Pollution combines with other external factors as sun light (Ultraviolet A and B, Infra Red…), or lifestyle (smoking, nutrition, psychological stress…) to accelerate skin ageing. This so-called ‘extrinsic ageing’1 adds to chronological ageing (driven by genetically programmed intrinsic mechanisms) to alter skin appearance (wrinkles, laxity, puffy eyes, …).
It is an unfortunate finding that intrinsic ageing potentiates the effects of extrinsic factors such as pollution. With ageing, skin barrier function declines (pollutants access more easily the skin’s living layers), and defence systems (antioxidation, detoxification) are weakened. Therefore, a good strategy to oppose pollution effects is to fight pollutants while enhancing skin defence systems.
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