Ultrafine air particles may drive 2 million premature deaths each year

Ultrafine particles (UFPs) –smaller than 100 nanometres and invisible to the naked eye—contribute substantially to illness and mortality worldwide.

That is the finding of an international study led by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz and The Cyprus Institute, with cardiologists from Mainz University Medical Center among the co-authors.

The researchers estimate that around 1.99 million deaths per year worldwide are attributable to exposure to ultrafine particles.

That accounts for about five percent of all deaths from non-communicable diseases.

Roughly half of these are due to cardiovascular disease.

The researchers therefore advocate for binding limit values.

The study appears in the journal Cardiovascular Research. ...