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Bioaccessibility of trace elements in fine and ultrafine atmospheric particles in an industrial environment

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Abstract

The lung bioaccessibility, i.e., the solubility in alveolar lung fluid of metals in particulate matter, has been recognized as an important parameter for health risk assessment, associated with the inhalation of airborne particles. The purpose of this study is to use an in vitro method to estimate the pulmonary bioaccessibility of toxic metals in different particle sizes, from a multi-influenced industrial emission area. The fine and ultrafine particles collected with cascade impactors in the chimneys and at different distances from a Fe–Mn smelter were extracted with a simulated alveolar fluid (Gamble solution). In addition, a four-step sequential extraction procedure was employed to approach the metal speciation. The bioaccessibility of metals ranged from almost insoluble for Fe (<1 %) to extremely soluble for Rb (>80 %). In terms of particle size, the trace element bioaccessibility is generally higher for the finer size fractions (submicron and ultrafine particles) than for the coarse one (>1 µm). These submicron particles have a very high number concentration and specific surface area, which confer them an important contact surface with the alveolar fluid, i.e., a higher bioaccessibility. Interestingly, the bioaccessibility of most metals clearly increases between the chimney stacks and the close environment of the studied Fe–Mn smelter, over a very short distance (800 m), possibly due to a mix with surrounding steelworks emissions. This increase is not observed over a greater distance from the smelter (2000 m), when industrial particles were mixed with urban aerosols, except for Fe, under more soluble forms in combustion particles.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge funding from the French Agency of Environment and Energy Management (ADEME grant #1181C0089). Mines Douai and the LPCA participate in the Institut de Recherche en ENvironnement Industriel (IRENI), which is financed by the Communauté Urbaine de Dunkerque, the Nord-Pas de Calais Regional Council, the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research, the CNRS and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and in the CaPPA (Chemical and Physical Properties of the Atmosphere) project (ANR-10-LABX-005) funded by the French National Research Agency (ANR) through the PIA (Programme d’Investissement d’Avenir). S.M. is grateful for a Ph.D. scholarship from Mines Douai.

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  1. Université Lille Nord de France, 59000, Lille, France

    Saliou Mbengue, Laurent Y. Alleman & Pascal Flament

  2. Mines de Douai, SAGE, CS10838, 59508, Douai, France

    Saliou Mbengue & Laurent Y. Alleman

  3. LPCA, Université du Littoral-Côte d’Opale (ULCO), 189A, Avenue Maurice Schumann, 59240, Dunkerque, France

    Pascal Flament

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  1. Saliou Mbengue
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Mbengue, S., Alleman, L.Y. & Flament, P. Bioaccessibility of trace elements in fine and ultrafine atmospheric particles in an industrial environment. Environ Geochem Health 37, 875–889 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-015-9756-2

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