Day-to-day variability of toxic events induced by organic compounds bound to size segregated atmospheric aerosol

摘要

This study quantified the temporal variability of concentration of carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (c-PAHs), genotoxicity, oxidative DNA damage and dioxin-like activity of the extractable organic matter (EOM) of atmospheric aerosol particles of aerodynamic diameter (d(ae), mu m) coarse (1 < d(ae) < 10), upper- (0.5 < d(ae) < 1) and lower-accumulation (0.17 < d(ae) < 0.5) and ultrafine (<0.17) fractions. The upper accumulation fraction formed most of the aerosol mass for 22 of the 26 study days and contained 44% of total c-PAHs, while the ultrafine fraction contained only 11%. DNA adduct levels suggested a crucial contribution of c-PAHs bound to the upper accumulation fraction. The dioxin-like activity was also driven primarily by c-PAH concentrations. In contrast, oxidative DNA damage was not related to c-PAHs, as a negative correlation with c-PAHs was observed. These results suggest that genotoxicity and dioxin-like activity are the major toxic effects of organic compounds bound to size segregated aerosol, while oxidative DNA damage is not induced by EOM. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.