Nanoparticles in emissions on researcher’s radar
Nanoparticles are everywhere, but we don't know how many or how toxic they are to humans and nature. The nPETS project involves researchers from all over Europe who visit road tunnels and airports to study the sub 100 nm emissions.
Particles from the transport sector are everywhere, especially in cities. Particle emissions cause millions of premature deaths globally every year.
In the European project nPets, researchers are targeting the smallest particles, nanoparticles, in the size of viruses, that can go deep into our lungs. Still, no-one knows how many and how toxic the nanoparticles are, thus they are not regulated by law.
“Our research is particularly relevant now that the WHO's new guidelines for the protection of human health today also contain recommendations for particles below 0.1 micrometre, precisely the size we are studying,” says nPETS’s project manager Ellen Bergseth , Associate Professor at KTH.
In two years, the project closes and the results ready to make an impact.
"By then I hope we measure these particles in the lab and that we have found the worst and most toxic sources of emissions so that politicians around the world can make wise decisions."