What are the health implications between particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution and PM1 pollution, which are the diameter in microns? This is what a recent study published in The Lancet Planetary Health hopes to address as a team of scientists led by the Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL) conducted a first-time investigation into PM1 by it to PM2.5 throughout the United States across several decades? This study has the potential to help researchers better understand the health risks of PM1 and develop the necessary steps to mitigate them.
For the study, the researchers analyzed PM1 data obtained from satellites, computer models, and ground-based observations between 1998 and 2022 across the contiguous United States and compared them to PM2.5 measurements over the same period. The goal of the study was to ascertain PM1 concentration variances across the U.S., along with ascertaining their chemical composition. In the end, the researchers found that increased PM1 concentrations in the eastern U.S. while lower concentrations in the western U.S., along with chemical compositions of black carbon, ammonium, nitrate, sulphate, and organic matter. The reason for this study was to alert the health risks for PM1, as the smaller particulates can pass through human bodies much easier than PM2.5.
“When EPA first promulgated a fine PM air quality standard in 1997, there was considerable discussion about regulating PM1 or PM2.5,” said Dr. Jay Turner, who is a James McKelvey Professor of Engineering Education at WUSTL and a co-author on the study. “For numerous reasons, including but not limited to the lack of health impacts studies for PM1 compared to studies for PM2.5, the latter was chosen. This study provides a comprehensive, nationwide dataset to examine PM1 impacts on health.”
Going forward, the researchers emphasize the importance of taking PM1 seriously, specifically due to its source being fossil fuel, and take steps to help mitigate the human health risks.
What new discoveries about PM1 will researchers make in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!
As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!
Sources: The Lancet Planetary Health, EurekAlert!