In the context of substances, “particulate” refers to discrete solid or liquid particles suspended within a continuous medium, typically air or liquid, characterized by their size distribution, morphology, and chemical composition. Particulate substances range from nanometers to hundreds of micrometers in diameter and can be composed of inorganic materials (e.g., metals, salts, mineral dust) or organic matter (e.g., soot, biological fragments, organics). Their physicochemical properties, including surface area, hygroscopicity, and reactivity, govern processes such as aggregation, sedimentation, and interaction with radiation or surrounding phases, and are critical parameters in fields like aerosol science, toxicology, and materials research.
Wildland firefighters are exposed to a mix of harmful chemicals in the smoke they breathe and the ash and soot that gets on their clothing. Over long assignments fighting fires that can last for days to weeks, those chemicals ...
Nanomaterials
1 hour ago
0
0
Air pollution does not have to exceed federal limits to potentially harm human health, according to a new published study from the University of Mississippi.
Environment
Jun 3, 2026
0
6
Whisky-inspired chemicals could help power a new generation of microscopic machines, according to researchers who have discovered a way to make tiny particles "swim" through liquid using compounds linked to the production ...
Nanophysics
Jun 3, 2026
0
10
From sizzling bacon in the kitchen to wildfire smoke in the sky, cooking and pollution release microscopic particles that affect humans' health, the air they breathe, and even weather and climate. New research from Virginia ...
Environment
Jun 2, 2026
0
17
New research from a team of scientists led by Cornell is transforming how researchers understand one of the atmosphere's most abundant and least understood constituents: mineral dust.
Earth Sciences
Jun 1, 2026
0
26
When fire tore through Los Angeles County in January 2025, westerly winds blew most of the smoke and ash over the Pacific, keeping the main measure of air quality, total mass of particles smaller than 2.5 microns, at or near ...
Environment
May 21, 2026
0
6
Aerosols and clouds play a key role in Earth's climate budget. However, the extent to which they reflect solar energy depends heavily on how much water the particles can absorb. This so-called hygroscopicity has so far been ...
Earth Sciences
May 20, 2026
0
15
A new study shows that a single radioactive cloud was responsible for a large share of the nuclear fallout during the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster on 11 March 2011. The work is published in the Journal of Hazardous ...
Environment
May 12, 2026
0
18
A National Taiwan University study shows that traffic particles can create sharply localized exposure hotspots near busy roads, intersections and elevated corridors. The findings suggest that targeted street-level planning ...
Environment
May 4, 2026
0
8
Counterintuitively, despite the ongoing fuel crisis and the over two decades since the global phaseout of leaded gasoline, toxic lead still lingers in Metro Manila's air. By analyzing aerosol data from as far back as 2018 ...
Environment
Apr 29, 2026
0
118
