Toxicological evaluation and concentration of airborne PM 0.1 in high air pollution period in Guangzhou, China.

The emissions and exposure limits for airborne PM _0.1 are lacking, with limited scientific data for toxicity. Therefore, we continuously monitored and calculated the number and mass concentrations of airborne PM _0.1 in December 2017, January 2018 and March 2018 during the high pollution period in Guangzhou. We collected PM _0.1 from the same period and analyzed their chemical components. A549, THP-1 and A549/THP-1 co-cultured cells were selected for exposure to PM _0.1 , and evaluated for toxicological responses. Our aims are to 1) measure and analyze the number and mass concentrations, and chemical components of PM _0.1 ; 2) evaluate and compare PM _0.1 toxicity to different airway cells models at different time points. Guangzhou had the highest mass concentration of PM _0.1 in December 2017, while the number concentration was the lowest. Chemical components in PM _0.1 vary significantly at different time periods, and the correlation between the chemical composition or source of PM _0.1 and the mass and number concentration of PM _0.1 was dissimilar. Exposure to PM _0.1 disrupted cell membranes, impaired mitochondrial function, promoted the expression of inflammatory mediators, and interfered with DNA replication in the cell cycle. The damage caused by exposure to PM _0.1 at different times exhibited variations across different types of cells. PM _0.1 in March 2018 stimulated co-cultured cells to secrete more inflammatory mediators, and CMA was significantly related to the expression of them. Our study indicates that it is essential to monitor both the mass and number concentrations of PM _0.1 throughout all seasons annually, as conventional toxicological experiments and the internal components of PM _0.1 may not effectively reveal the health damages caused by elevated number levels of PM _0.1 .
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)