fine particles of soot in the air, a hazard but ow much of one?

Factual Questions
1

I bought an IONIC BREEZE from sharper image and found that it picks up small quantities of the finest particles.
They are soot like. I haven’t analyzed their composition.
They are coming from outside.

After wiping a piece of Kleenex on it, the kleenex looked sooty.

This stuff must be going into my lungs all the time.
How dangerous is it? What are the physiological effects?

In another posting in the future I will ask what are the best ways of filtering this stuff out.

PS My cousin, who never smoked, is very ill with lung cancer.

2

Where do you live? A lot of cities have problems with particulate air pollution that can come from a lot of different sources, and none of it is good for you. I think how dangerous it is depends on the source and nature of the particles, and so on, and that in some places (like Mexico City) it’s a lot more dangerous than others. Particles that are too small to see are supposed to be the worst because they can penetrate deeper into your lungs.

If you analyze it I’d like to know what you find.