To augment: sand-sized particles have a massive area/mass ratio, which is the main determinant in how quickly things deorbit. An unpowered Starlink satellite will deorbit naturally in 5 years. A sand sized particle in a Starlink orbit will deorbit naturally within a single orbit (90 minutes).
And more augmentation: sand size particles aren't the concern anyways. Satellites get hit by sand size meteors regularly. The space station is protected by Whipple shields. Satellites aren't, so sometimes they are partially or fully disabled by a sand size particle, but they never disintegrate because of one.
Particles under 1cm in size don't cause Kessler because they're too small. Particles over 1cm in size don't cause Kessler because they are big enough to be tracked and actively avoided.
