“Diesel engines emit countless carbon nanoparticles into the air, slipping through government regulation and vehicle filters. A new…simulation shows that these nanoparticles can get trapped in the lungs and inhibit the function of a fluid that facilitates breathing.

Lung surfactant is a fluid containing protein and lipid molecules. It reduces surface tension in the lungs, prevents them from collapsing and helps transport foreign particles that will ultimately be expelled from the lungs.

Inhaled carbon nanoparticles, however, appear to behave differently than most foreign particles. Computer simulations indicated that they wouldn’t be expelled, but would become trapped in the surfactant, entangled with fatty lipid molecules that wrapped their tails around the nanoparticles and into their central cavities….” Full Slice

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