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NCERT Chemistry of Grade XII (India) writes

Particulate pollutants bigger than 5 microns are likely to lodge into the nasal passage, whereas particles about 10 microns enter the lungs easily.

I'm primarily a Mathematics student, and my experience in Biology has been fairly limited to high school Biology, so excuse any factual errors that I make during my argument. From what I know of the respiratory system, the trachea divides further and further getting narrower (into Bronchi, Bronchioles), so how does this happen that particles smaller are getting lodged into the nasal passage, whereas larger particles are getting into the lungs? Shouldn't it have been the other way around?

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    – tyersome
    Commented Apr 20, 2022 at 16:06

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Yes indeed, your quote has things backwards. Here is an image and a link to further information:

ref enter image description here If you follow the dotted line with your eyes - - - - - through the 1Micron grading... On the right side, the majority is absorbed by the head. On the left side, it's mostly the lungs. enter image description here other references

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