Combined toxicity of multi-walled carbon nanotubes and benzo [a] pyrene in human epithelial lung cells

Abstract

Combined exposure to multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and air contaminants such as benzo [a] pyrene (BaP) in ambient air is unavoidable. In this study, the toxicity of co-exposure to pristine-MWCNTs (P-MWCNTs) and BaP and co-exposure to functionalized-MWCNTs (F-MWCNTs) and BaP were investigated in the A549 lung cells. Combined toxicity demonstrated that co-exposure to P-MWCNTs and BaP had an additive and a synergistic effect through cell viability and ROS generation, respectively. Moreover, our findings indicated that co-exposure to F-MWCNTs and BaP had a slight antagonistic effect on both cell viability and generation of ROS. The results of this study revealed that MWCNTs can alter the toxicity of contaminants such as BaP in the co-exposure situations.