Abstract
Ambient particulate matter pollution is one of the leading causes of global disease burden. Epidemiological studies have revealed the connections between particulate exposure and cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. However, until now, the real species of ambient ultrafine particles (UFPs) in humans are still scarcely known. Here we report the discovery and characterization of exogenous nanoparticles (NPs) in human serum and pleural effusion (PE) samples collected from non-occupational subjects in a typical polluted region. We show the wide presence of NPs in human serum and PE samples with extreme diversity in chemical species, concentration, and morphology. Through chemical multi-fingerprinting (including elemental fingerprints, high-resolution structural fingerprints, and stable iron isotopic fingerprints) of NPs, we identify the sources of the NPs to be abiogenic, particularly, combustion-derived particulate emission. Our results provide evidence for the translocation of ambient UFPs into the human circulatory system, and also provide information for understanding their systemic health effects.
Highlights
Ambient particulate matter pollution is one of the leading causes of global disease burden
Our results have revealed the wide presence of exogenous NPs in non-occupational human pleural effusion (PE) and serum with extreme diversity in concentrations, chemical identities, and sources
The elemental, structural, and stable isotopic fingerprints suggest that the NPs are most likely to originate from external particulate pollution, combustion-related particulate emission
Summary
Ambient particulate matter pollution is one of the leading causes of global disease burden. Our results provide evidence for the translocation of ambient UFPs into the human circulatory system, and provide information for understanding their systemic health effects. Humans have been exposed to ambient particulate matter throughout their history, only in recent decades did it become one of the leading global health risks owing to dramatically increased anthropogenic sources[1]. Long-term exposure to PM2.5 is thought to increase mortality and morbidity and shorten life expectancy by causing cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, such as respiratory infections, chronic obstructive pulmonary (COPD), heart attack, stroke, and lung cancer[4,5]. UFPs, and suggests that inhaled UFPs can distribute throughout the human body to induce a systemic health effect beyond causing cardiovascular and respiratory diseases[10,11]. Miller et al.[17] reported that inhaled gold
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