Differential toxicities of fine particulate matters from various sources

Minhan Park,Lucille Joanna S Borlaza,Kyu Hyuck Chung,Kihong Park,Hanjae Shin,Injeong Kim,Yoon-Hyeong Choi,Sang Don Kim,Sun Gu Park,Hung Soo Joo,Jiyi Lee,Hangyul Song,Heungbin Lim,Min-Suk Bae,Myoseon Jang,Kwangyul Lee

doi:10.1038/s41598-018-35398-0

Abstract

Fine particulate matters less than 2.5 µm (PM2.5) in the ambient atmosphere are strongly associated with adverse health effects. However, it is unlikely that all fine particles are equally toxic in view of their different sizes and chemical components. Toxicity of fine particles produced from various combustion sources (diesel engine, gasoline engine, biomass burning (rice straw and pine stem burning), and coal combustion) and non-combustion sources (road dust including sea spray aerosols, ammonium sulfate, ammonium nitrate, and secondary organic aerosols (SOA)), which are known major sources of PM2.5, was determined. Multiple biological and chemical endpoints were integrated for various source-specific aerosols to derive toxicity scores for particles originating from different sources. The highest toxicity score was obtained for diesel engine exhaust particles, followed by gasoline engine exhaust particles, biomass burning particles, coal combustion particles, and road dust, suggesting that traffic plays the most critical role in enhancing the toxic effects of fine particles. The toxicity ranking of fine particles produced from various sources can be used to better understand the adverse health effects caused by different fine particle types in the ambient atmosphere, and to provide practical management of fine particles beyond what can be achieved only using PM mass which is the current regulation standard.

Highlights

Fine particulate matters less than 2.5 μm (PM2.5) in the ambient atmosphere are strongly associated with adverse health effects
It is believed that the developed toxicity score accounts for differential toxicities of various aerosols linked to adverse health effects on respiratory system
The toxicological values employed were OP activity normalized by PM2.5 mass for OP_DTT using dithiothreitol (DTT) assay and OP-ESR using electron spin resonance (ESR), half-maximal effective concentration (EC50) for cell viability, specific activity for mutagenicity, significant concentration-dependent induction factor for DNA damage, relative fluorescence intensity for oxidative stress, and relative maximum cytokine production for inflammatory response

Summary

Introduction

Fine particulate matters less than 2.5 μm (PM2.5) in the ambient atmosphere are strongly associated with adverse health effects. Multiple biological and chemical endpoints were integrated for various source-specific aerosols to derive toxicity scores for particles originating from different sources. To determine toxicity of various particles, multiple biological and chemical endpoints (oxidative potential (OP), cell viability, genotoxicity (based on mutagenicity and DNA damage), oxidative stress and inflammatory response) using human airway cell lines, animal ovary cell lines and Salmonella strains with preexisting mutations were determined. This method facilitated the direct comparison of various endpoints linked to health effect on respiratory system with minimization of differences in exposure and biological systems. Chemical characterization of the particles was conducted to relate their major chemical components to the toxicity score for source-specific aerosols

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Conclusion