--- title: TIME100 Health: Francesca Dominici description: Find out why Francesca Dominici is on the TIME100 Health list. canonical: https://time.com/collections/time100-health/6968410/francesca-dominici/ article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-05-02T12:01:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-03T00:30:12.970Z article:section: Health og:title: Francesca Dominici og:description: Find out why Francesca Dominici is on the TIME100 Health list. og:url: https://time.com/collections/time100-health/6968410/francesca-dominici/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbd1b36d0024cf321/698a55ee4ee2627e0931e009/T100health-2024-Francesca-Dominici.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Francesca Dominici og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Francesca Dominici twitter:description: Find out why Francesca Dominici is on the TIME100 Health list. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbd1b36d0024cf321/698a55ee4ee2627e0931e009/T100health-2024-Francesca-Dominici.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- May 02, 2024 # Francesca Dominici ## Video: See Everyone on the TIME100 Health list [Watch (HLS stream): See Everyone on the TIME100 Health list](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/bYIwjCx8.m3u8) (1:45)  _Published 2024-05-02_ by [Jeffrey Kluger](/author/jeffrey-kluger/) ## Jeffrey Kluger Editor at Large  Francesca Dominici Francesca DominiciCourtesy Dominici You’ll never see a particle of soot measuring 2.5 micrometers across. That’s just 2½ millionths of a meter, or 0.0000975 in. But so-called PM2.5 soot is something we should watch out for all the same. It’s pretty much everywhere, [produced outdoors by](https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-finalizes-stronger-standards-harmful-soot-pollution-significantly-increasing "undefined") vehicle exhaust, power plants, wildfires and more, [and indoors](https://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/indoors/air/pmq%5Fa.htm#:~:text=Particle%20pollution%20from%20fine%20particulates,the%20air%20to%20appear%20hazy. "undefined") by such common sources as tobacco smoke, broiling or frying food, and fireplace smoke. PM2.5 particles are small enough to penetrate lung tissue and are [linked to](https://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/indoors/air/pmq%5Fa.htm#:~:text=Particle%20pollution%20from%20fine%20particulates,the%20air%20to%20appear%20hazy. "undefined") heart disease, asthma, low birthweight, and other ills. Children, older adults, pregnant people, and the economically disadvantaged, whose communities often experience elevated levels of air pollution, are especially susceptible to PM2.5 particles. Francesca Dominici aims to help fix that. A professor of biostatistics at the Harvard School of Public Health, Dominici is a leader in linking PM2.5 pollution to the risk of premature death, especially among seniors and people with COVID-19\. In February, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began cracking down further on PM2.5, reducing the permissible concentration of the particles from 12 micrograms (or millionths of a gram) per cubic meter of air to 9 micrograms. “While it is impossible to identify a particular study or researcher whose work was singularly helpful, EPA appreciates the groundbreaking work of Francesca Dominici, who led studies … investigat\[ing\] the link between soot levels and adverse health effects,” an EPA spokesperson said. Says Dominici: “Lowering from 12 to 9 \[micrograms\] means breathing cleaner air for everyone. It’s a huge public-health victory.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-health/6968410/francesca-dominici/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-health/6968410/francesca-dominici/"},"headline":"Francesca Dominici","datePublished":"2024-05-02T12:01:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:30:12.970Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/time100-health/6968410/francesca-dominici/","keywords":["time100health2024","franchise","Magazine","Special Project","sponsorshipblock","Accolades"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbd1b36d0024cf321/698a55ee4ee2627e0931e009/T100health-2024-Francesca-Dominici.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jeffrey Kluger","jobTitle":"Editor at Large","url":"https://time.com/author/jeffrey-kluger/"}],"creator":"Jeffrey Kluger","articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbd1b36d0024cf321/698a55ee4ee2627e0931e009/T100health-2024-Francesca-Dominici.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time100-health-2024/","name":"time100health2024"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-health/6968410/francesca-dominici/","name":"Francesca Dominici"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"See Everyone on the TIME100 Health list","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/bYIwjCx8/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2024-05-02T12:00:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/bYIwjCx8.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/time100-health/6968410/francesca-dominici/","duration":"PT1M45S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/time100-health/6968410/francesca-dominici/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```