Leipzig. Although plastic particles in the air are increasingly coming into focus, knowledge about their distribution and effects is still limited. Chemical analyses from Leipzig now provide details from Germany for the first time: around 4 per cent of the particulate matter consists of plastic. Around two-thirds of this comes from tyre abrasion. Extrapolated, this means that people in a city like Leipzig inhale approximately 2.1 micrograms of plastic per day through the air, which increases the risk of death from cardiovascular disease by 9 per cent and from lung cancer by 13 per cent.