Particle Induced Toxicity in Relation to Transition Metal and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Contents

Abstract

Exposure to ambient particulate matter (PM) is statistically significantly associated with morbidity and mortality. The objectives of this study were (a) to investigate in vivo pulmonary and systemic cytotoxicity and inflammatory activity in compromised animals exposed to PM and (b) to investigate the relationships of the outcomes to the chemical compositions of particular polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and transition metals in the PM. The PM samples were collected in European cities representing contrasting situations. Exposure of spontaneously hypertensive rats (7 mg of PM/kg) resulted in pulmonary inflammation, cellular toxicity and the induction of blood fibrinogen. Coarse PM generally caused stronger effects per mg than fine particles. Positive correlations between lactate dehydrogenase, proteins, and some inflammation parameters and the particle metal and PAH content were found. PM rich in PAH also led to increased blood fibrinogen. Removal of particles but not the organics (i.e., PAH) of a sample led to reduced inflammation in the lungs. The present study highlights the importance of metals as well as PM-bound PAH in particle biological outcomes. It supports the hypothesis that, on an equal mass basis, particle health effects differ due to differences in compositions and size.

Health risk of aerosols and toxic metals from incense and joss paper burning

“…The estimated percentages for PM 2.5 were 71.9, 72.0, 65.7, and 72.3% for Joss-C (Na), Joss-MA (Al), Joss-V (Pb), and Joss-C (Cu), respectively. Taking into account, the emphasis on the health-related effects caused by the inhalation of ambient air particles containing metallic elements (Gerlofs-Nijland et al 2009), these high percentages of small particles are rather alarming. The Waste Incinerator Heavy Metal Air Pollutant Emissions Standards has already stressed the importance of controlling the emission of Pb, Cd, and Hg, owing to their toxic effect on human health.…”

“…This is because the implications of the inhalation of ambient air particles containing metallic elements on health have been reported (Gerlofs-Nijland et al 2009). The metallic elements in suspended particles generated by incense burning have been widely investigated by Fang et al (2003).…”

Trace elemental analysis of airborne particulate matter using dynamic reaction cell inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry: Application to monitoring episodic industrial emission events

“…For example, fine particulate Zn has been correlated with emergency department visits in Spokane, WA [3]. Particulate transition metals have also been correlated with increasing toxicity biomarkers and shown to stimulate production of reactive oxygen species [4]. Additionally, particulate metals can be used to identify sources and develop control strategies.…”

Source Apportionment Coupled with Gas/Particle Partitioning Theory and Risk Assessment of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Associated with Size-Segregated Airborne Particulate Matter

“…Gupta et al (2011) collected airborne PM with a five-stage airborne PM sampler and reported that PAHs was unimodal distributed among the five particle sizes while the stage in the smallest particle size had the highest concentrations of PAHs. There are also numbers of works devoted to the risk assessment of PAHs associated with airborne PM (Gerlofs-Nijland et al 2009;Jiang et al 2014;Li et al 2014;Pongpiachan et al 2015). The establishment and development of benzo[a]pyrene equivalent concentration (BaP eq ) along with toxic equivalence factors (TEFs) have contributed to the recognition of the carcinogenic properties of PAHs (Zhu et al 2014;Gao et al 2015).…”