Although mass emissions of combustion-generated particulate matter have been substantially reduced by new combustion technology, there is still a great concern about the emissions of huge numbers of sub-10 nm particles with insignificant mass. These particles have up to orders of magnitude higher surface area to mass ratios compared to larger particles, have surfaces covered with adsorbed volatile and semi-volatile organic species or even are constituted by such species. Currently there is only very little information available on exposure and related health effects specific for smaller particles and first evidences for long-term health effects has only been recently published. However, the fact that these nanoparticles are not easily measured at the exhausts and in the atmosphere and that their biological activity is obscure does not mean that we can overlook them. There is an urgent need to develop i) reliable methods to measure sub-10 nm particles at the exhaust and in the atmosphere and ii) a robust correlation between the chemical structure of the molecules making up combustion-generated nanoparticles and health burden of new combustion technologies. Our attention has to turn to this new class of combustion-generated nanoparticles, which might be the future major constituents of air pollution.

中文翻译：

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“我们是否忘记了最小的，低于10 nm的燃烧产生的颗粒？”。

尽管通过新的燃烧技术已经大大减少了燃烧产生的颗粒物质的质量排放，但是仍然非常关注大量质量不重要的亚10 nm颗粒的排放。与较大的颗粒相比，这些颗粒的表面积质量比高多达几个数量级，其表面覆盖有吸附的挥发性和半挥发性有机物质，甚至由此类物质构成。目前只有很少的关于较小颗粒物的暴露和相关健康影响的信息，有关长期健康影响的第一证据只是最近才发表。然而，这些纳米颗粒在废气和大气中不容易测量，并且其生物活性模糊，这一事实并不意味着我们可以忽略它们。迫切需要开发i）测量废气和大气中10 nm以下颗粒的可靠方法，以及ii）构成燃烧生成的纳米颗粒的分子的化学结构与新燃烧的健康负担之间的牢固相关性技术。我们的注意力必须转向这种新型的燃烧产生的纳米颗粒，这可能是未来空气污染的主要成分。迫切需要开发i）测量废气和大气中10 nm以下颗粒的可靠方法，以及ii）构成燃烧生成的纳米颗粒的分子的化学结构与新燃烧的健康负担之间的牢固相关性技术。我们的注意力必须转向这种新型的燃烧产生的纳米颗粒，这可能是未来空气污染的主要成分。迫切需要开发i）测量废气和大气中10 nm以下颗粒的可靠方法，以及ii）构成燃烧生成的纳米颗粒的分子的化学结构与新燃烧的健康负担之间的牢固相关性技术。我们的注意力必须转向这种新型的燃烧产生的纳米颗粒，这可能是未来空气污染的主要成分。