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INTERACTION OF COMPLEX POLLUTANT MIXTURES AND PARTICULATES IN CAUSATION OF PULMONARY DISEASE
Citation:
Ehrlich, R. INTERACTION OF COMPLEX POLLUTANT MIXTURES AND PARTICULATES IN CAUSATION OF PULMONARY DISEASE. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/1-84/002.
Description:
Studies were conducted to determine the effects of inhalation exposure to particulate and gaseous air pollutants on the resistance to experimental bacterial pneumonia. Changes in resistance to this respiratory infection, expressed as changes in mortality rates and survival time, served as the most sensitive and consistent indicators of damage produced by the exposure. Using these parameters it was possible to rank the effects of single 3-hr inhalation exposure to the particulate pollutants. Among the particulate pollutants included in these studies cadmium sulfate and cadmium nitrate were most toxic followed in decreasing order of toxicity by copper, aluminum and magnesium sulfate or nitrate aerosols. The metallic cation appeared to be most important in altering the resistance to infection. Multiple 3-hr exposures to zinc or cupric sulfate similarily reduced the resistance at significantly lower concentrations of the pollutants.