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EFFECT OF METAL REMOVAL ON THE TOXICITY OF AIRBORNE PARTICULATE MATTER FROM THE UTAH VALLEY
Citation:
Molinelli, A., M. C. Madden, J. McGee, J. Stonehuerner, AND A. Ghio. EFFECT OF METAL REMOVAL ON THE TOXICITY OF AIRBORNE PARTICULATE MATTER FROM THE UTAH VALLEY. Presented at Society of Toxicology Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, March 25-29, 2001.
Description:
Epidemiological studies have linked the inhalation of airborne particulate matter (PM) to increased morbidity and mortality in humans. However, the mechanisms of toxicity of these particles remains unclear. Several hypotheses state that the toxicity might stem from PM transition metal content, organic compounds adhered to them, their biological activity or ultrafine particle content. In order to provide evidence in support of the transition metal toxicity hypothesis, human airway epithelial cell line (BEAS-2B) cultures were exposed for 24 hours to an aqueous extract of PM collected at the Utah Valley. A portion of the extracts were treated with chelex, an agent that removes cations (including transition metals) from the solution. Removal of the majority of the metal mass was confirmed by ICP analyses. Cells that were incubated with the untreated extract (62-1000 mg dry extract equivalent) showed a concentration-dependent increase in the inflammatory mediators interleukin-8 (IL8) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), with a 100-fold and 6-fold increase, respectively, at the highest concentration compared to the control cells. Cells incubated with chelex-treated extracts had only 10-fold and 2-fold increases in IL8 and PGE2, respectively, suggesting that metal removal attenuated cellular responses to the aqueous extract. Cells appeared viable at all concentrations based on trypan blue dye exclusion and LDH release assays. These data support a role for transition metal involvement in PM associated increases in morbidity and mortality. [This is an abstract of a proposed presentation and does not necessarily reflect official EPA policy. Supported by NIEHS T32-ES07126.]