Just in case your day was going relatively well, allow me to come to your parade, and rain on it. H. Barry Dellinger, a chemist from LSU Baton Rouge, has gone out and discovered a brand new pollutant, in the air right now! And not only that, we know that these pollutants are “formed in combustion ranging from cigarettes to power plants and diesel engines”! High fives all around!

The Philadelphia Inquirer has the scoop on this fun new discovery, and tells us this:

Whether they [the pollutants] are harmful to human health is unknown, although the chemist [Dellinger] who discovered the particles said their existence might help explain why some nonsmokers get lung cancers and other diseases often associated with tobacco use.

Oh, and also, in case you were worried that this is another one of those flash-in-the-pan, fad pollutants (like the South Beach Diet), Dr. Dellinger assures us that these babies can last for “hours, days and in some cases indefinitely.” In fact, he’s calling these new things persistent free radicals, which very well might be more dangerous than persistent New Radicals. Free radicals are thought to cause damage to the body, but most of them don’t stick around long enough to do any real harm. These ones could be different.

As mentioned earlier, though, we’re not sure yet whether or not these new pollutants affect our health. But, to be on the safe side, go ahead and try to hold your breath for a while.

Also, takepart and head over to WebMD to learn about free radicals and which foods are high in antioxidants to help fight them.