Toxicity of atmospheric particle-bound PAHs: an environmental perspective

Abstract

Atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are environmental pollutants that represent a risk not only to humans, but to all living organisms. High-molecular weight PAHs are more toxic than lighter relatives, and also have a higher tendency to bind onto air particles (i.e., particle matter, PM). PM is a major constituent of air pollution. Adequate assessment of the biological impact of PM requires the analysis, not only of the effects on human health, but also on the environment. Since the aquatic systems work as a natural sink to these air pollutants, assessing the effects of particle-bound PAHs on aquatic organisms may further characterize its potential aquatic toxicity, also providing simple and low-cost alternative assays to investigate PM biological effects in vivo. We review the current scientific literature, addressing the atmospheric PAHs fate, transformation and deposition, pertinent particle-bound PAHs toxicity data, and the potential aquatic toxic burden. Conceptual and experimental procedures that could improve future investigations and risk assessments are also considered.

α-Hexylcinnamaldehyde Inhibits the Genotoxicity of Environmental Pollutants in the Bacterial Reverse Mutation Assay

“…These agents, which are nitrosubstituted derivatives of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, are frequently formed at elevated temperatures during cooking and frying of meat and fish or during combustion processes (e.g., diesel exhaust, wood burn) and show higher mutagenicity and cancerogenicity. 32 In this context, the present results encourage further studies on 1 as a possible new chemopreventive agent for limiting the toxicological risks due to environmental pollutants to which humans are exposed. The final mixture was kept on ice during testing.…”

Genotoxicity biomarkers for airborne particulate matter (PM2.5) in an area under petrochemical influence

“…Their nitrated derivatives (nitro-PAHs) also occur widely, and are emitted directly or produced in the air by interaction between PAHs and nitrogen oxides (NOx). Some nitro-PAHs have a higher toxic potential than the original compounds (Mesquita et al, 2014).…”

“…When present in the atmosphere, PAHs may be in the gaseous phase or associated with particulate matter according to their vapor-pressure and the atmospheric conditions. In general, low molecular weight species remain in the gas phase, while heavier HPAs tend to bind to PM (Mesquita et al, 2014). They are a global problem, since they are transported long distances by air and present mutagenic and carcinogenic characteristics (Meire et al, 2007).…”

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in Portuguese educational settings: a comparison between preschools and elementary schools

“…The relevant indoor sources are tobacco smoke, cooking, combustion process (candle, fuels), and infiltration of outdoor emissions (Chen et al, 2012;Qi et al, 2014;Slezakova et al, 2014a;Shen et al, 2012;Wu et al, 2015). As PAH exhibit semivolatile properties, these compounds are distributed between vapor phase and adsorbed onto particles predominantly associated with fine fractions such as PM2.5 (aerodynamic diameter below 2.5 μm) or PM1 (aerodynamic diameter <1 μm) (Mesquita et al, 2014;Sánchez-Soberón et al 2016;Slezakova et al, 2013aSlezakova et al, , 2013b. The partitioning between both phases then significantly impacts fate, removal and transport of PAH in the atmosphere (Dvorská et al, 2012) as well their entry into humans.…”