title: Catalytic diesel particulate filters reduce the in vitro estrogenic activity of diesel exhaust.
abstract: An in vitro reporter gene assay based on human breast cancer T47D cells (ER-CALUX) was applied to examine the ability of diesel exhaust to induce or inhibit estrogen receptor (ER)-mediated gene expression. Exhaust from a heavy-duty diesel engine was either treated by iron- or copper/iron-catalyzed diesel particulate filters (DPFs) or studied as unfiltered exhaust. Collected samples included particle-bound and semivolatile constituents of diesel exhaust. Our findings show that all of the samples contained compounds that were able to induce ER-mediated gene expression as well as compounds that suppressed the activity of the endogenous hormone 17beta-estradiol (E2). Estrogenic activity prevailed over antiestrogenic activity. We found an overall ER-mediated activity of 1.63 +/- 0.31 ng E2 CALUX equivalents (E2-CEQs) per m(3) of unfiltered exhaust. In filtered exhaust, we measured 0.74 +/- 0.07 (iron-catalyzed DPF) and 0.55 +/- 0.09 ng E2-CEQ m(-3) (copper/iron-catalyzed DPF), corresponding to reductions in estrogenic activity of 55 and 66%, respectively. Our study demonstrates that both catalytic DPFs lowered the ER-mediated endocrine-disrupting potential of diesel exhaust.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Analytical Chemistry, Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research, 8600, Dübendorf, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wenger
authors.forename: Andreas C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Gerecke
authors.forename: Norbert V
authors.initials: NV
authors.lastname: Heeb
authors.forename: Hanspeter
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Naegeli
authors.forename: Renato
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zenobi
mesh_terms: D001681:Biological Assay / Q000379:methods; D002384:Catalysis; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004965:Estrogen Antagonists / Q000032:analysis / Q000494:pharmacology; D004967:Estrogens / Q000032:analysis* / Q000494:pharmacology; D005374:Filtration; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D006801:Humans; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000032:analysis* / Q000494:pharmacology; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D001335:Vehicle Emissions / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D004965:Estrogen Antagonists; D004967:Estrogens; D052638:Particulate Matter; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D001335:Vehicle Emissions