Very small particles in the air can cause heart disease

We have all read in the past that diesel fuel fumes and particles can attribute to heart disease and increases plaques in the cardiac tissue. But now UCLA researchers have concluded that the smallest, eensy weensy, teeny tiny little particle from vehicle emissions may be be the one that packs the biggest punch.I know, it is a little hard to wrap your brain around this one right? Now we can’t even walk down the street without the ghostly whispers of our arteries hardening form plaque. Depressing…

The scientists identified a way in which pollutant particles may promote hardening of the arteries — by inactivating the protective qualities of high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, known as “good” cholesterol.

We are talking really tiny particles, nanoparticles that are the size of a virus or molecule — less than 0.18 micrometers, or about one-thousandth the size of a human hair. For now these particles are too small to be captured in a filter, thus enter new technology!

via Science Daily