"Ultrafine particles" refers to tiny specks of dust, smoke, or other substances that are extremely small. They can be so tiny that they are not visible to the naked eye. These particles can float in the air for a long time and can be harmful to our health if we breathe them in.
Full definition
The primary purpose of this study was to determine the concentration
of ultrafine particles emitted by laser printers.
«People could be exposed to dangerous levels of
ultrafine particles emitted by printers if they are in an environment that is poorly ventilated and the printer operation is frequent or continuous,» says Lidia Morawska, a physicist and co-author of the study, which appears in this month's online issue of the American Chemical Society's Environmental Science & Technology.
J.P. van der Sluijs, «Quantification of uncertain quantities using subjective probability distributions» presentation at the IRAS - RIVM - INTARESE Expert Workshop
on Ultrafine Particles and Health, Utrecht, 26 August 2008.
NIST recently issued Reference Material (RM) 8027, the smallest known reference material ever created for validating measurements of these man - made,
ultrafine particles between 1 and 100 nanometers in size.
Reduced
ultrafine particle levels in São Paulo's atmosphere during shifts from gasoline to ethanol use by Alberto Salvo, Joel Brito, Paulo Artaxo, & Franz M. Geiger.
Some experts
believe ultrafine particles, which are a thousand times smaller than the particles the DEC measured, pose more danger to residents with asthma and other respiratory illnesses.
The proportion of diesel vehicles registered in Leipzig however rose from 19 to 26 % between 2010 and 2016 — with negative consequences: While black carbon and the number concentration of
ultrafine particles decreased, the concentration of gaseous nitrogen oxides (NOx) is stagnant and is still too high.
In this study, scientists studied the role of
ultrafine particles less than 50 nanometers wide in the development of thunderstorms.
When a large plume of aerosols with an abundance of
ultrafine particles passed by an observation station, the researchers observed a corresponding, more powerful vertical wind motion and heavier rain.
«What this paper does is raise the stakes in needing to develop a deeper, more accurate understanding of the sources and fates of
atmospheric ultrafine particles,» Thornton says.
Atmospheric scientist Joel Thornton of the University of Washington in Seattle, who led the study on the shipping exhaust, says it's possible that
ultrafine particles play a role in that scenario.
Nicotine can react with ozone to
form ultrafine particles, which can carry harmful chemicals and pass through human tissue.
The researchers used a zero - emission vehicle equipped with specialized instruments to
measure ultrafine particles and other tailpipe pollutants, such as nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide.
The Berkeley Lab team has done previous studies establishing the formation of harmful thirdhand smoke constituents by reaction of nicotine with indoor nitrous acid, showing that nicotine can react with ozone to form potentially
harmful ultrafine particles, and finding that thirdhand smoke can cause genetic damage in human cells.
Additional aerosol mass composed of organosulfate and organonitrate chemicals can then form via nitrogen oxide - initiated oxidation of VOCs from natural vegetation (e.g., isoprene) in the presence of highly
acidic ultrafine particles.
However, other air pollutants such
as ultrafine particles (UFPs)(< 0.1 um) may also contribute to adverse health effects.
They produce
more ultrafine particles than cigarettes do, and they cause the same reduction in the amount of nitric oxide exhaled by users — a consequence long associated with smoking's harmful cardiovascular effects.
Six years ago, Jiaxing Huang discovered crumpled graphene balls —
novel ultrafine particles that resemble crumpled paper balls.
Depending on the composition of
the ultrafine particles emitted during a short printing job, a worker might be exposed to a risk of cancer or illnesses of a respiratory or cardiovascular nature.
HEI also tested for more than 100 pollutants, such as benzene and
ultrafine particles.
In seven of these 13 stations, black carbon and
ultrafine particle have been additionally measured.
If the conditions are right, the sheer abundance of
the ultrafine particles in such a plume would rapidly create a very large number of cloud droplets.
Third, there is increasing evidence that
the ultrafine particles released in e-cigarettes may have adverse consequences for the cardiovascular system.
While no significant changes were detected in levels of inhalable fine particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), the study proved in a real, day - to - day situation that choosing ethanol reduces emissions of
ultrafine particles.
Ultrafine particles, which form from condensation of hot exhaust vapors, are of particular concern because they deposit deeply into the lungs and can enter the bloodstream.
«The exhaust contains gasses and large amounts of
ultrafine particles that are essentially unregulated by the Environmental Protection Agency because the EPA regulates fine particles by weight, and these particles weigh so little,» she said.
The researchers calculated the quantity of
ultrafine particles and other traffic - related pollutants transit users would inhale if the stop was farther from the intersection.
London's Black Cabs exposed passengers to an average of more than 108,000
ultrafine particles — microscopic soot 10,000 times smaller than a centimeter that is particularly dangerous because of its ability to penetrate deep into the lungs — for every cubic centimeter traveled.
Chlorine from paper and plastics combined with organic materials, creating poisonous metal - rich gases and
ultrafine particles.
«Fine particles alone are not enough to worry about,» he says, pointing to other potential indoor sources of
ultrafine particles, including home cooking, candles and fires.
Results: Many studies show how daytime emissions from coal - fired power plants lead to
ultrafine particles, linked to climate and health issues.
The present work will lead to better computer models for air pollution, which do not currently take into account the nighttime birth and growth of
ultrafine particles.
The fumes have been found to contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), heterocyclic amines, higher and mutated aldehydes, and fine and
ultrafine particles.
Next in line to further decrease CO2 form cars come downsized turbo GDI (gas direct injection) engines and they emit much more
ultrafine particles and NOX than regular natural aspirated engines with PFI (port fuel injection) and even more than some Euro6 diesels with particle filter.