Journal
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES
Volume 114, Issue 3, Pages 328-333Publisher
US DEPT HEALTH HUMAN SCIENCES PUBLIC HEALTH SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1289/ehp.8266
Keywords
air pollution; dose-response relation; nanoparticles; particle toxicology; particulate matter; specific surface area; ultrafine particles
Funding
- NHLBI NIH HHS [HL 70542, R01 HL070542] Funding Source: Medline
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Increased levels of particulate air pollution are associated with increased respiratory and cardiovascular mortality and morbidity. Some epidemiologic and toxicologic research suggests ultrafine particles (UFPs) (<100 nm) to be more harmful per unit mass than larger particles. Our study was aimed at a quantitative comparison of acute adverse effects of different types of carbonaceous UFPs at a dose range that causes a moderate inflammatory response in lungs. We used six different particle types (primary particle size 10-50 nm, specific surface area 30-800 m(2)/g, and organic content 1-20%): PrintexG, Printex90, flame soot particles with different organic content (SootL, SootH), spark-generated ultrafine carbon particles (ufCP), and the reference diesel exhaust particles (DEP) SRM1650a. Mice were instilled with 5, 20, and 50 mu g of each particle type, and bronchoalveolar lavage was analyzed 24 hr after instillation for inflammatory cells and the level of proinflammatory cyrokines. At respective mass-doses, particle-caused detrimental effects ranked in the following order: ufCP>SootL >= SootH>Printex90>PrintexG>DER. Relating the inflammatory effects to the particle characteristics-organic content, primary particle size, or specific surface area-demonstrates the most obvious dose response for particle surface area. Our study suggests that the surface area measurement developed by Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller is a valuable reference unit for the assessment of causative health effects for carbonaceous UFPs. Additionally, we demonstrated the existence of a threshold for the particle surface area at an instilled dose of approximately 20 cm(2), below which no acute proinflammatory responses could be detected in mice.
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