Particulate Size and lung diseases

Your respiratory system is one of the most important systems in the human body. This is due to the fact that it is responsible for adding oxygen into the blood and giving our heart and brain all the oxygen we need to function.  Where you work however plays a huge part in the health of your lungs and what enters them on a daily basis. While one may not notice it foreign matter is entering the lung in almost every breath we take. What makes it dangerous to the human body is when those particle sizes get so tiny that they are absorbed into the deep parts of the lungs called the alveoli.  These Alveoli are responsible for gas exchange in the lungs that takes in the needed oxygen and lets out the not needed carbon dioxide. So you could imagine if harmful substances get into these parts of the lungs the damage they can cause to the lungs and entire respiratory system. This all depend on the particle size of the foreign matter.  In general particle sizes of 20 micrometers and less are usually imbedded into the nasopharyngeal region of the respiratory tract also known as nose, nasal cavity and throat. While these may still cause damage to the respiratory system it’s usually very minimal. Its starts to become potentially life threatening when the particulate size drops lower than 5 microns. Here is when they start to become embedded into the alveoli of the lungs and make the gas exchange function much more difficult to happen which can often result in life long diseases such as fibrosis of the lungs, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD and asthma.  People who work in areas where fine dust and particulates in the air should wear respirators or other devices to help with treating the air they breathe before it causes lifelong damage to your lungs. 

"OSH Answers Fact Sheets." Government of Canada, Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety. 1 Oct. 2010. Web. 19 Mar. 2015. <http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/chemicals/lungs_dust.html>.