BACKGROUND Evidence suggests that air pollution is associated with atherosclerosis and that traffic-related particles are a particularly important contributor to the association. OBJECTIVES We investigated the association between long-term exposure to black carbon, a correlate of traffic particles, and intima-media thickness of the common carotid artery (CIMT) in elderly men residing in the g...

OBJECTIVES This study was conducted to determine whether nano-sized carbon black exposure results in greater damage in high fat diet-induced overweight rats than normal weight ones and to identify the possible causes of any differences. METHODS Two groups of Sprague-Dawley rats allocated by body weight (normal and overweight) were exposed to aerosolized nano-sized carbon black for 6 hours a d...

There is a need to recognize air pollution levels by particles, especially in developing countries such as Jordan where data are scarce due to the absence of routine monitoring of ambient air quality. This study aims at studying the air quality in different locations at Irbid, Jordan through the measurement and analysis of the time series of black carbon light absorption coefficients (B (abs))....

The effect of carbon black on the mechanical properties of elastomers is of great interest, because the filler is one of principal ingredients for the manufacturing of rubber products. While fillers can be used to enhance the properties of elastomers, including stress-free swelling resistance in solvent, it is widely known that the introduction of fillers yields significant inelastic responses ...

We investigate the impact of the morphological properties of freshly emitted black carbon aerosols on optical properties and on radiative forcing. To this end, we model the optical properties of fractal black carbon aggregates by use of numerically exact solutions to Maxwell’s equations within a spectral range from the UVC to the mid-IR. The results are coupled to radiative transfer computation...

Carbon black was investigated to assess and quantify the possibility that nanoparticles might migrate out of plastic materials used in the food packaging industry. Two types of carbon black were incorporated in low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and polystyrene (PS) at 2.5% and 5.0% loading (w/w), and then subjected to migration studies. The samples were exposed to different food simulants accordi...

While studies show that ultrafine and fine particles can be translocated from the lungs to the central nervous system, the possible neurodegenerative effect of air pollution remains largely unexplored. The authors examined the relation between black carbon, a marker for traffic particles, and cognition among 202 Boston, Massachusetts, children (mean age = 9.7 years (standard deviation, 1.7)) in...

BACKGROUND Few studies have investigated cancer risks in carbon black workers and the findings were inconclusive. METHODS The current study explores the mortality of a cohort of 1535 male German blue-collar workers employed at a carbon black manufacturing plant for at least one year between 1960 and 1998. Vital status and causes of death were assessed for the period 1976-98. Occupational hist...

The structure of the clusters of primary carbon black aggregates dispersed in a polymer matrix is studied by small angle neutron and X-ray scattering. The fractal dimension is found to decrease continuously for increasing concentration ~ of carbon black from D = 1.75 at ~ = 0, corresponding to the value for the isolated primary aggregates, to 1.5 in the considered