Size distributions of particle-generated hydroxyl radical (·OH) in surrogate lung fluid (SLF) solution and their potential sources

摘要

Although it is known that increases in ambient particulate matter (PM) levels are associated with elevated occurrence of adverse health outcomes, the understanding of the mechanisms of PM-related health effects is limited by our knowledge of how particle size and composition are altered subsequent to inhalation through respiratory-deposited processing. Here we present a particle-generated hydroxyl radical (center dot OH) study of the size-resolved particles as particles are inhaled in the human respiratory tract (RT), and we show that accumulation-mode particles are significant factors (71-75%) in center dot OH generation of lung-deposited particles using Multiple-Path Particle Dosimetry (MPPD) model. The ability of PM to catalyze center dot OH generation is mainly related to transition metals, particularly towards the upper regions of the RT (75%), and to quinones deeper in the lung (42-46%). Identification of this generation ability induced by chemical composition has shown that four potential sources (biomass burning, incomplete combustion, mobile & industry, and mineral dust) are responsible for center dot OH generation. With center dot OH-forming ability after PM inhalation implicated as the first step towards revealing the subsequent toxic processes, this work draws a connection between the detailed center dot OH chemistry occurring on size-resolved particles and a possible toxicological mechanism based on chemical composition and sources. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.