 In this video we are going to learn about ways that we can reduce particulate matter and why this is important. Have you ever noticed that in a city a lot of the buildings appear to be quite dirty? The amount of dirt seems to depend on the amount of traffic. Really it isn't actually dirt, but soot, unburnt carbon. This is the same as coal, but where it exists as fine particulate matter it coats practically everything making it appear dirty. Of course asphetics aren't the only reason why we should try to reduce the amount of particulate matter. Particulates including soot can be inhaled into our lungs and with a size of 2.5 microns can coat the bronchioles leading to respiratory problems, even lung cancer. Therefore it is very important to reduce the number of particulates in the atmosphere. Particulates arise due to incomplete combustion. The size of these particulates vary. Particulate matter can come from indoors or from outdoors. Can you think of particulate matter that arises from being indoors? Pause the video and continue when you are ready. Some possibilities include cigarette smoking, cooking, especially frying, combustion appliances, for example cookers that aren't fitted with air filters, non-ventured combustion appliances like gas stoves, wood burning appliances like wood stoves, especially if the smoke leaks or back drafts into the home. Did you get it right? We now need to think about how we could reduce the amount of particulates from these activities. Cigarette smoking is straightforward, cut down or stop. But if that's not a possibility then make sure people smoke outside. This will reduce the concentration of particulate matter inside a building from having harmful effects on the body. When cooking, if you have an extractor fan, you should use this to avoid smoke or you should cook in a well-ventilated room. Finally, you should always have your boilers or combustion appliances checked on a regular basis to make sure they are not emitting harmful particulates. If they burn with a yellow flame rather than a blue one it could be a sign that the appliance is faulty and this is worth checking. Outside, particulate matter can be reduced by ensuring that we burn fewer fossil fuels. We can do this by not doing unnecessary car journeys by making better use of public transport systems, by car pooling which is to share our cars with others or by cycling. However, if we have to make a car journey we must make sure that the car is regularly road tested. This way, the exhaust emissions can be monitored and if the amounts of unburned hydrocarbons are too high the car is deemed unroadworthy and so cannot be driven. We can also reduce outside particulate matter by ensuring that we are more energy efficient in our homes. Homes that are better insulated do not need heating or cooling and so burn less fossil fuels. Similarly, simple actions like turning off lights and reducing the amount of electricity we use will also help. This is because we will reduce our demand and electricity generation and so reduce the amount of fossil fuels burnt in power stations. Finally, the scientific community has a responsibility to develop alternative energy sources as these do not produce any particulate matter and are beneficial to our health and environments.