Wood smoke particle taken from a human lung enlarged. (Original picture size 3 7/8 " by 3 3/8" at 900x enlargement. "Chest p.1232. Interstitial Lung Disease and Domestic Wood Burning, Ramage, Roggli, Bell and Piantadosi.")
Particulate Size Comparisons: US EPA
Human Lung Slide: US EPA
The Wood Smoke (woodsmoke) particle is different than cooking oil aerosols, in that it swells up inside the 99% humidity of the lung. This means that it could "deposit a higher load" of the combustion toxics directly into the blood stream as described below by Prof. P.K. Hopke, Dept. of Chemistry, Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY "Measurement of the Hygroscopicity of the Indoor Aerosol". Aug. 1996, Center for Indoor Air Research. (See hygroscopy page.) Also see "particle-size".