New, potentially damaging, pollutant is discovered

Philadelphia Inquirer, The, August, 2008 by Sandy Bauers Inquirer Staff Writer

A previously unknown class of pollutants, formed in combustion ranging from cigarettes to power plants and diesel engines, was announced at the American Chemical Society's national meeting. Whether they are harmful to human health is unknown, although the chemist who discovered the particles said their existence might help explain why some nonsmokers get lung cancers and other diseases often associated with tobacco use.

He is already working to develop a new cigarette filter that may remove more of the harmful substances. H. Barry Dellinger, a combustion chemist and professor at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, said yesterday at the Convention Center that the particles can last for "hours, days and in some cases indefinitely," and can be transported long...