Particulate Matter Toxicity Evaluation Using Bioindicators and Comet Assay

Abstract

Atmospheric particulate matter (PM) characterizes the atmospheric air quality. PM particles can adsorb and include several toxic air pollutants of urban areas. The current study aimed to develop an experimental procedure to assess the toxicity of the pollutants on PM 10 by means of the comet assay on earthworms directly exposed to PM 10 collecting filters. A particular focus was the amount of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the filter, in spite of their very low concentration in PM, because of their strong mutagenic and carcinogenic effects. A quartz filter exposed to polluted air containing 24.9 mg/g of PM 10 and 14.1 μg/g of PAHs was characterized and mechanically reduced into a very fine powder by means of a planetary ball mill. This powder was combined with artificial soil samples allowing treatments at 15 μg/g of PM 10 (0.008 μg/g of PAHs), 22.5 μg/g of PM 10 (0.012 μg/g of PAHs), 30 μg/g of PM 10 (0.016 μg/g of PAHs). Earthworms were exposed to each treatment for seven days, including blank treatments with powdered clean quartz filter, such as phenanthrene (used as the standard), and an untreated soil. DNA damage was observed starting from 0.012 μg/g of PAHs in 22.5 μg/g of PM 10 . No single PAH was detected or quantified in the bodies of the earthworms after microwave assisted solvent extraction (MASE) and GC-MS analysis. The results demonstrate that even a very low amount of PM 10 absorbed by the earthworms had a toxic effect on their immune systems, which could also have been caused by other xenobiotics included into the filter.

The Comet Assay and its applications in the field of ecotoxicology: a mature tool that continues to expand its perspectives

“…The application of Comet Assay to earthworms, and consequently the use of such extraordinary prospectors as sentinels for the presence of genotoxicants in soil, started in the nineties of the last century (Singh et al, 1988 ; Verschaeve and Gilles, 1995 ; Salagovic et al, 1996 ), and since then has been extensively revised (Cotelle and Férard, 1999 ; Espinosa-Reyes et al, 2010 ; Liu et al, 2010 ; Atli Şekeroglu et al, 2011 ; Lionetto et al, 2012 ; Andem et al, 2013 ; Vernile et al, 2013 ; Fujita et al, 2014 ; Vasseur and Bonnard, 2014 ; Zhang et al, 2014 ). Several earthworms comparative studies have been performed (Vasseur and Bonnard, 2014 ).…”

Source Analysis of Trace Metal Pollution Received at Harbor, Airport and Farmland Locations in Central Taiwan

“…Resuspended desert dust is an important air pollutant in both local and transboundary levels (Dobrzhinsky et al, 2012). Atmospheric particulate matter (PM) characterizes the atmospheric air quality (Vernile et al, 2013). Urban atmosphere is subject to large inputs of anthropogenic contaminants arising from both stationary (power plants, industries, incinerators, and residential heating) and mobile sources (road traffic) (Pacyna, 1984, Sweet et al, 1993, Sullivan and Woods, 2000, Melaku et al, 2008.…”

Evaluation of the Changes of the Concentration, Composition and Possible Sources of Size-Resolved Particulate Matter between 2010 and 2011 in a Western Chinese Mega City

“…A large amount of PM not only affects visibility and causes acidification but also has adverse effects on human health, such as increased respiratory and cardiovascular symptoms and diseases (Harrison and Yin, 2000;Tie et al, 2009;Cheng et al, 2012;Vernile et al, 2013). Moreover, some studies have showed that PM can change the radiation balance, and have important effect on climate change (Bellouin et al, 2005;Tiwari et al, 2012;Tahir et al, 2013).…”