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Potentially harmful aerosols concentrate in European urban centres

Atmospheric particles that increase levels of cellular oxidants when inhaled might be especially harmful. An analysis reveals which emissions should be limited to minimize the potential adverse health effects of such particles in Europe.
  1. Rodney Weber

    1. Rodney Weber is in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30032, USA.

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The inhalation of outdoor airborne particles can damage health and lead to premature death1,2. Writing in Nature, Daellenbach et al.3 report that certain components of atmospheric aerosols — those that have the potential to increase the oxidization of molecules in cells — might be responsible for most of the acute adverse effects of these particles in Europe. They also find that the distribution of these potentially harmful aerosols differs from that of the overall mass of aerosols, with hotspots in regions where the human population density is high. The overall mass concentration of particles is currently used as the key metric for assessing the risk of aerosols and to guide air-quality regulations. If the oxidation potential of aerosols is a stronger indicator of adverse effects, then the new results show that the evidence used at present to inform policymaking is deficient.

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Nature 587, 369-370 (2020)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-03065-y

References

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