title: The chemical composition of ultrafine particles and associated biological effects at an alpine town impacted by wood burning.
abstract: This work is part of the TOBICUP (TOxicity of BIomass Combustion generated Ultrafine Particles) project which aimed at providing the composition of ultrafine particles (UFPs, i.e. particles with aerodynamic diameter, dae, lower than 100nm) emitted by wood combustion and elucidating the related toxicity. Results here reported are from two ambient monitoring campaigns carried out at an alpine town in Northern Italy, where wood burning is largely diffused for domestic heating in winter. Wintertime and summertime UFP samples were analyzed to assess their chemical composition (i.e. elements, ions, total carbon, anhydrosugars, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) and biological activity. The induction of the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-8 (IL-8) by UFPs was investigated in two human cells lines (A549 and THP-1) and in human peripheral blood leukocytes. In addition, UFP-induced oxidative stress and genotoxicity were investigated in A549 cells. Ambient UFP-related effects were compared to those induced by traffic-emitted particles (DEP) taken from the NIES reference material "vehicle exhaust particulates". Ambient air UFPs induced a dose-related IL-8 release in both A549 and THP-1 cells; the effect was more relevant on summer samples and in general THP-1 cells were more sensitive than A549 cells. On a weight basis our data did not support a higher biological activity of ambient UFPs compared to DEP. The production of IL-8 in the whole blood assay indicated that UFPs reached systemic circulation and activated blood leukocytes. Comet assay and γ-H2AX evaluation showed a significant DNA damage especially in winter UFPs samples compared to control samples. Our study showed that ambient UFPs can evoke a pulmonary inflammatory response by inducing a dose-related IL-8 production and DNA damage, with different responses to UFP samples collected in the summer and winter periods.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Toxicology, DiSFeB, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Balzaretti 8, 20133 Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Emanuela
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Corsini
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Università degli Studi di Milano, via Celoria 16, 20133 Milan, Italy. Electronic address: roberta.vecchi@unimi.it.
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vecchi
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Toxicology, DiSFeB, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Balzaretti 8, 20133 Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Marabini
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Golgi 19, 20133 Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fermo
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry "Ugo Schiff", Università degli Studi di Firenze, Via della Lastruccia 3, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Becagli
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Università degli Studi di Milano, via Celoria 16, 20133 Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Vera
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bernardoni
authors.affiliation: Mass Spectrometry Laboratory "Giovanni Galli", DiSFeB, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Golgi 19, 20133 Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Donatella
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Caruso
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Golgi 19, 20133 Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Lorenza
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Corbella
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Università degli Studi di Milano, via Celoria 16, 20133 Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Manuela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dell'Acqua
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Toxicology, DiSFeB, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Balzaretti 8, 20133 Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Corrado L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Galli
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, P.zza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lonati
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, P.zza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Senem
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ozgen
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Toxicology, DiSFeB, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Balzaretti 8, 20133 Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Papale
authors.affiliation: LEAP Energy and Environment Laboratory, Via Bixio 27/C, 29121 Piacenza, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Signorini
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, P.zza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Ruggero
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tardivo
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Università degli Studi di Milano, via Celoria 16, 20133 Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Gianluigi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Valli
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Toxicology, DiSFeB, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Balzaretti 8, 20133 Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marinovich
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis* / Q000633:toxicity; D002460:Cell Line; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006801:Humans; D016209:Interleukin-8 / Q000378:metabolism; D007558:Italy; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000032:analysis* / Q000633:toxicity; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis; D014934:Wood / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; C508606:CXCL8 protein, human; D016209:Interleukin-8; D052638:Particulate Matter; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
keywords: Chemical composition; Genotoxicity; Inflammation; Toxicological effects; Ultrafine particles; Wood burning