Assessing Ecotoxicity of Size-fractionated Airborne Particulate Matter

Abstract

Particulate matter (PM) is grouped as coarse, fine, and ultrafine particles (UFPs) with aerodynamic diameters of 2.5 to 10 μm (PM10), <2.5 μm (PM2.5), and <0.1 μm (PM0.1), respectively. The course and fine fractions have been well characterised from numerous aspects, including potential environmental hazard. However, more and more studies are targeted to the UFP fraction, as they bind relatively higher concentrations of potentially toxic materials and they might penetrate through cell biological barriers, posing higher risk to the biota. In our study, ecotoxic potential of size-fractionated urban aerosol was evaluated, using the kinetic version of the Vibrio fischeri bioluminescence inhibition bioassay. The kinetic protocol makes it possible to avoid false ecotoxicity readings which might appear in case of coloured and/or turbid samples. Our results showed that all PM fractions elucidated significant toxic response, highest toxicity was experienced in the range of 0.25/0.5μm and 0.5/1 μm (with the EC50s of 7.07 and 7.8%). Ecotoxicity in general followed the typical pattern of number size distributions of submicron particles experienced in Europe.

A semicontinuous study on the ecotoxicity of atmospheric particles using a versatile aerosol concentration enrichment system (VACES): development and field characterization

“…The method of measuring ecotoxicity using photobacterium bioluminescence inhibition bioassay has long been routinely applied and standardized for water and soil research (Water quality, 2007). It had been reported that the Vibrio fischeri EC50 (median effective concentration) significantly correlated to rat and mouse LD50 (the lethal dose for 50 % of the animals tested) values, indicating the reliability of photobacterium-based ecotoxicity as-say (Fort, 1992;Kaiser et al, 1994). Recently, photobacteria have also been often used to assess the ecotoxicity of particulate matter and chemical components in the atmosphere.…”

“…Wang et al (2016) demonstrated that the PM 2.5 components analyzed by Photobacterium Phosphoreum T3 bioassay were ecologically toxic. Eck-Varanka et al (2019) analyzed the ecotoxicity of size-fractionated particles using Vibrio fischeri. Such literature proved the feasibility of the photobacterium-based method in assessing the ecological toxicity of atmospheric particulate matter.…”