Chemical Industry and Chemical Engineering Quarterly 2012 Volume 18, Issue 4-2, Pages: 635-641
https://doi.org/10.2298/CICEQ120206114M
Full text ( 1027 KB)
Cited by
Adverse biological effects of Milan urban PM looking for suitable molecular markers of exposure
Mantecca Paride (University of Milano Bicocca, Dept. Environmental Science, POLARIS Research Center, Milan, Italy)
Gualtieri Maurizio (University of Milano Bicocca, Dept. Environmental Science, POLARIS Research Center, Milan, Italy)
Longhin Eleonora (University of Milano Bicocca, Dept. Environmental Science, POLARIS Research Center, Milan, Italy)
Bestetti Giuseppina (University of Milano Bicocca, Dept. Environmental Science, POLARIS Research Center, Milan, Italy)
Palestini Paola (University of Milano Bicocca, Dept. Experimental Medicine, POLARIS Research Center, Monza, Italy)
Bolzacchini Ezio (University of Milano Bicocca, Dept. Environmental Science, POLARIS Research Center, Milan, Italy)
Camatini Marina (University of Milano Bicocca, Dept. Environmental Science, POLARIS Research Center, Milan, Italy)
The results presented summarise the ones obtained in the coordinated research
project Tosca, which extensively analysed the impact of Milan urban PM on
human health. The molecular markers of exposure and effects of seasonally and
size-fractionated PMs (summer and winter PM10, PM2.5) were investigated in in
vitro (human lung cell lines) and in vivo (mice) systems. The results
obtained by the analyses of cytotoxic, pro-inflammatory and genotoxic
parameters demonstrate that the biological responses are strongly dependent
upon the PM samples seasonal and dimensional variability, that ultimately
reflect their chemical composition and source. In fact summer PM10, enriched
in crustal elements and endotoxins, was the most cytotoxic and
pro-inflammatory fraction, while fine winter PMs induced genotoxic effects
and xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes (like CYP1B1) production, likely as a
consequence of the higher content in combustion derived particles reach in
PAHs and heavy toxic metals. These outcomes outline the need of a detailed
knowledge of the PMs physico-chemical composition on a local scale, coupled
with the biological hazard directly associated to PM exposure. Apparently
this is the only way allowing scientists and police-makers to establish the
proper relationships between the respirable PM quantity/quality and the
health outcomes described by clinicians and epidemiologists.
Keywords: particulate matter, marker of toxicity, in vitro, in vivo