Title: particulate matter
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - particulate matter
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.P04434
Status: current

Definition
A general term used to describe airborne solid or liquid particles of all sizes. The term aerosol is recommended for general use in describing airborne particulate matter.

Related Term
- aerosol: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/A00176

Source
- PAC, 1990, 62, 2167. 'Glossary of atmospheric chemistry terms (Recommendations 1990)' on page 2205 (https://doi.org/10.1351/pac199062112167)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/P04434/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/P04434/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/P04434/xml

Citation: Citation: 'particulate matter' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.P04434
License: The IUPAC Gold Book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) for individual terms.
Collection: If you are interested in licensing the Gold Book for commercial use, please contact the IUPAC Executive Director at executivedirector@iupac.org .
Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.
Accessed: 2026-07-23T19:59:46+00:00