Science Alert January 26, 2020
Aerosol nanoparticles play an important role in the climate system by affecting cloud formation and properties, as well as in human health because of their deep reach into lungs and the circulatory system. The sudden appearance of large numbers of atmospheric nanoparticles is commonly attributed to secondary formation from gas-phase precursors. Researchers at UC Irvine have detected a mode of fungal fragments with a mobility diameter of roughly 30 nm released in episodic bursts in ambient air over an agricultural area in northern Oklahoma. These events reached concentrations orders of magnitude higher than other reports of biological particles. These particles potentially represent a large source of both cloud-forming ice nuclei and respirable allergens in a variety of ecosystems…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Aerosol size distributions and nanoparticle composition for a characteristic fungal nanoparticle event. Credit: Science Advances 15 Jan 2020: Vol. 6, no. 3, eaax9051Â