January 10, 2018 – Coarse Particulates

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Anchor lead: Another type of air pollution worsens asthma, Elizabeth Tracey reports

Really tiny particles in air pollution have been known for some time to cause problems for people with asthma and other lung disorders, especially children. Now new research by Corinne Keet, an allergy and asthma expert at Johns Hopkins, and colleagues, shows that the larger particles in air pollution are also problematic.

Keet: It’s important because this particular matter pollution, this coarse fraction particulate matter which is the larger fraction, is not systematically monitored in the US and it’s not regulated in the US. Most of the attention has been on the fine particulate matter which is those that are less than 2.5 microns. There’s now more attention being looked at of these health effects of these larger particles which come from things like brake wear and tear they can be sand there’s a lot of different things that can cause them.  And we found that this part of pollution is also important for children with asthma.  :31

Keet hopes her study will inform policy decisions when things like limits to air pollution are formulated, and notes that the effects are especially pronounced in younger children. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.