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According to new study, increased exposure to air pollution increased the risk of diabetes and obesity in lab rats.

Duke University researchers used lab rats for their experiment and exposed them to Beijing air or filtered air for a period of 19 days. At the end of experiment, the group that was exposed to the Beijing air had increased levels of bad cholesterol (50%), triglycerides (46%) and total cholesterol (97%), factors that attribute to the risk of diabetes and obesity, United Press International reports.

Male rats who were exposed to the pollution reported 18% heavier than their partners in filtered air. If the humans face the same metabolic reaction said one of the authors from the study in a press release, "these findings will support the urgent need to reduce air pollution, given the growing burden of obesity in today's highly polluted world," says Time.com

"Since chronic inflammation is recognized as a factor contributing to obesity and since metabolic diseases such as diabetes and obesity are closely related, our findings provide clear evidence that chronic exposure to air pollution increases the risk for developing obesity," said senior author Junfeng Zhang, a professor of global and environmental health at Duke University and Duke Kunshan University.

"If translated and verified in humans, these findings will support the urgent need to reduce air pollution, given the growing burden of obesity in today's highly polluted world," Zhang added.

Several agencies of Chinese government funded the study. The results are coherent with other studies suggesting that the air pollution stimulates oxidative stress and inflammation in circulatory systems as well as organs. It is also consistent with other studies that suggest how air pollution increases the insulin resistance and altered tissue, as reported by Latino Post