Kim, Eungyung, Huang, Ke, Yi, Junkoo, Ma, Lei, Kim, Chae Yeon, Park, Kanghyun, Liu, Zhibin, Kim, Hyeonjin, Sung, Yonghun, Jang, Soyoung, Jang, Soyeon, Li, Shengqing, Wen, Weihong, Ryoo, Zae Young, Shin, Sangsu, and Kim, Myoung Ok
ABSTRACTFine particulate matter (PM) 2.5 contains metals, ions, and carbon compounds, varying dynamically due to environmental factors. This study identified five major metals (Ca, Fe, Al, Zn and Pb) in urban PM2.5 via meta-analysis and evaluated their hazardous effects on health. Mice were exposed to these metals through intratracheal instillation, revealing changes in white blood cell count and serum substances (bilirubin, BUN and LDH), along with lung inflammation. Increased levels of proinflammatory cytokines (IL-1b, IL-6 and TNF-α) were observed, indicating adverse effects on the respiratory system. These results suggest that further studies on the health effects of the major metals of PM2.5, development of indicators for determining the PM2.5 exposure levels, and methods for reducing the metals together with other components in PM2.5 are needed.