Variations of Personal Exposure to Particulate Nitrated Phenols from Heating Energy Renovation in China: The First Assessment on Associated Toxicological Impacts with Particle Size Distributions

Abstract

The clean heating renovation has been executed for improving particulate matter (PM) pollution in northern China since 2017. This study determined particle size distributions of nitrated phenols (NPs) in personal exposure samples and their associations with biomarkers in saliva and urine from homemakers in rural households of the Fenwei Plain, China. Remarkable reductions of 28.6–66.3% and 52.2–82.4% on PMs and total quantified NPs, respectively, were found with the substitutions of raw coal chunk and biomass by advanced clean coal. 4-Nitroguaiacol (4NG) showed the largest reductions of 81.2% among individual NP. In addition, the clean coal efficiently reduced interleukin-6 (IL-6) and 8-hydrox-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) in the urine and saliva by 12–72%. Furthermore, significant positive correlations between urinary 8-OHdG with most of NPs in all particle sizes, urinary IL-6 with 4NG for particles with Dp > 2.5 μm and Dp = 0.25–1.0 μm and salivary IL-6 with 4-nitrocatechol and 4-methyl-5-nitrocatechol for particles with Dp > 2.5 μm, Dp = 0.5–1.0 μm, and Dp < 0.25 μm were observed but not for salivary 8-OHdG or PMs. The results provide scientific support for the clean energy reformation and demonstrate the strong particle size dependence between NPs and biomarkers.

Exposure Markers of Nitrated Aromatic Compounds and the Association with Nitrative Stress

“…Previous studies have assessed the effects of certain NACs, such as the vasodilatory, estrogenic, and antiandrogenic activities of 4-NP, 2-methyl-4NP, and 3-methyl-4NP by rat thoracic artery and in vitro assays . Eleven NACs in PM 2.5 showed positive correlations with interleukin (IL)-6 and 8-hydrox-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) in urine and saliva of 18 homemakers . However, a comprehensive investigation of NACs based on exposure markers is largely absent from the literatures.…”

“…30 Eleven NACs in PM 2.5 showed positive correlations with interleukin (IL)-6 and 8- hydrox-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) in urine and saliva of 18 homemakers. 31 However, a comprehensive investigation of NACs based on exposure markers is largely absent from the literatures.…”

Measurement report: Oxidation potential of water-soluble aerosol components in the southern and northern of Beijing

“…Further, in the north, the DTTv was closely related to the concentrations of NACs (r of 0.57 to 0.79) (Figure S2), suggesting that NACs could be important contributors to DTT consumption. Feng et al (2022) reported the positive correlations between NACs and biomarkers in saliva and urine (interleukin-6 and 8-hydrox-2ʹ-deoxyguanosine). Zhang et al (2023) also reported that NACs are major proinflammatory components in organic aerosols, contributing about 24% of the interleukin-8 response of all compounds detected by Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR-MS) in electrospray ionization negative mode (ESI-).…”