Articles on Particulate matter

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Coal-fired power plants emit both smoke and steam. Paul Souders/Stone via Getty Images

Coal plants emitted more pollution during the last government shutdown, while regulators were furloughed

Ruohao Zhang, Penn State; Huan Li, North Carolina A&T State University, and Neha Khanna, Binghamton University, State University of New York

As soon as the 2018-2019 shutdown began, coal-fired power plants started emitting more particulate matter pollution. And when the inspections resumed, the levels dropped back to normal.
Fine particulate matter from wildfires can cause long-term health harms. Gary Hershorn/Getty Images

How researchers measure wildfire smoke exposure doesn’t capture long‑term health effects − and hides racial disparities

Joan Casey, University of Washington and Rachel Morello-Frosch, University of California, Berkeley

Which is riskier for your health: a few days of very bad PM₂.₅ exposure or many more days of slightly bad exposure? Researchers developed new metrics to provide better answers.
In Nigeria, local delicacies such as this roasted goat meat taste better when cooked over a fire, prompting even people who can afford renewable energy to use firewood for cooking. David Jobs/Getty Images

Nigerian households use a range of energy, from wood to solar – green energy planning must account for this

Dennis Gabriel Pepple, University of Leicester and Daminabo Pokubo, Nottingham Trent University

In Nigeria, the national grid is so unreliable that individual homes procure much of their own electricity. They’re pivotal in the country’s transitions to renewable energy and should be subsidised.
Wildfire smoke is hard to avoid in California, even in urban neighborhoods. Paul Harris/Getty Images

Wildfire smoke is linked to thousands of premature deaths every year – here’s why and how to protect yourself

Rachel Connolly, University of California, Los Angeles and Michael Jerrett, University of California, Los Angeles

Breathing wildfire smoke can cut years off people’s lives. As fires become more frequent in a warming world, smoke is leading to a public health crisis, harming people far from the flames.
Thick wildfire smoke blankets the landscape near Water Valley, Alta., in May 2023. Evidence linking wildfire smoke with adverse health effects has been accumulating for years. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Wildfire smoke is an increasing threat to Canadians’ health

Ryan W. Allen, Simon Fraser University and Stephanie Cleland, Simon Fraser University

The notion that wildfire smoke is ‘natural,’ and therefore less harmful than other types of air pollution, is not supported by the evidence. Wildfire smoke has been linked to adverse health effects.
A farmer works with his tractor in front of the Kusile Power Station located in eMalahleni. In Gauteng province residents can sometimes smell the pollution coming from this direction. Wikus de Wet/AFP via Getty Images

The air in South African Highveld cities smells foul in the winter: here’s why

Rebecca Garland, University of Pretoria

Johannesburg occasionally smells like rotten eggs. The wind brings the smell from the east or the southeast, where most industries are located.
Wildfire smoke contains a mixture of toxic pollutants that can be harmful to both the lungs and the brain. Bloomberg Creative/ Bloomberg Creative Photos via Getty Images

Neurotoxins in the environment are damaging human brain health – and more frequent fires and floods may make the problem worse

Arnold R. Eiser, Drexel University

Pollution from more frequent floods and wildfires – exacerbated by the warming climate – is threatening human health and poses particular risks to the brain.
Toxic dust hung in the air around ground zero for more than three months following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Anthony Correia/Getty Images

9/11 survivors’ exposure to toxic dust and the chronic health conditions that followed offer lessons that are still too often unheeded

Roberto Lucchini, Florida International University

Those directly exposed to toxic dust and trauma on and after 9/11 carry with them a generation of chronic health conditions, which are placing them at higher risk during the pandemic and as they age.

Related Topics

  1. Air pollution
  2. Air quality
  3. Asthma
  4. Climate change
  5. Health
  6. Particulates
  7. PM2.5
  8. Pollution
  9. Smoke
  10. Wildfires

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