Indoor, outdoor, and personal exposure to PM2.5 and their bioreactivity among healthy residents of Hong Kong

Xiao-Cui Chen; Hsiao-Chi Chuang; Tony J Ward; Linwei Tian; Jun-Ji Cao; Steven Sai-Hang Ho; Ngar-Cheung Lau; Ta-Chih Hsiao; Steve Hl Yim; Kin-Fai Ho

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2020.109780

Indoor, outdoor, and personal exposure to PM_2.5 and their bioreactivity among healthy residents of Hong Kong

Environ Res. 2020 Sep:188:109780. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2020.109780. Epub 2020 Jun 10.

Authors

Xiao-Cui Chen¹, Hsiao-Chi Chuang², Tony J Ward³, Linwei Tian⁴, Jun-Ji Cao⁵, Steven Sai-Hang Ho⁶, Ngar-Cheung Lau⁷, Ta-Chih Hsiao⁸, Steve Hl Yim⁷, Kin-Fai Ho⁹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Environment, Energy and Sustainability, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; Shenzhen Research Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, China; Now at: Healthy High Density Cities Lab, HKUrbanLab, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
² School of Respiratory Therapy, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
³ School of Public and Community Health Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, USA.
⁴ School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Aerosol, SKLLQG, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an, China; Institute of Global Environmental Change, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.
⁶ Division of Atmosphere Sciences, Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV, 89512, United States; Hong Kong Premium Services and Research Laboratory, Cheung Sha Wan, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
⁷ Institute of Environment, Energy and Sustainability, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; Department of Geography and Resource Management, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
⁸ Graduate Institute of Environmental Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁹ Institute of Environment, Energy and Sustainability, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. Electronic address: kfho@cuhk.edu.hk.

PMID: 32554275
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2020.109780

Abstract

Direct evidence about associations between fine particles (PM_2.5) components and the corresponding PM_2.5 bioreactivity at the individual level is limited. We conducted a panel study with repeated personal measurements involving 56 healthy residents in Hong Kong. Fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) levels were measured from these subjects. Out of 56 subjects, 27 (48.2%) participated in concurrent outdoor, indoor, and personal PM_2.5 monitoring. Organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC), particle bound-polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and phthalates were analyzed. Alteration in cell viability, lactic dehydrogenase (LDH), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and 8-isoprostane by 50 μg/mL PM_2.5 extracts was determined in A549 cells in vitro. Moderate heterogeneities were shown in PM_2.5 exposures and the corresponding PM_2.5 bioreactivity across different sample types. Associations between the analyzed components and PM_2.5 bioreactivity were assessed using the multiple regression models. Toxicological results revealed that indoor and personal exposure to OC as well as PAH compounds and their derivatives (e.g., Alkyl-PAHs, Oxy-PAHs) induced cell viability reduction and increase in levels of LDH, IL-6, and 8-isoprostane. Overall, OC in personal exposure played a dominant role in PM_2.5-induced bioreactivity. Subsequently, we examined the associations of FeNO with IL-6 and 8-isoprostane levels using mixed-effects models. The results showed that per interquartile change in IL-6 and 8-isoprostane were associated with a 6.4% (p < 0.01) and 11.1% (p < 0.01) increase in FeNO levels, respectively. Our study explored the toxicological properties of chemical components in PM_2.5 exposure, which suggested that residential indoors and personal OC and PAHs should be of great concern for human health. These findings indicated that further studies in inflammation and oxidative stress-related illnesses due to particle exposure would benefit from the assessment of in vitro PM_2.5 bioreactivity.

Keywords: Biomarkers; Inflammation; Organic carbon; Oxidative stress; PAHs.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Air Pollutants* / analysis
Air Pollutants* / toxicity
Air Pollution, Indoor* / analysis
Carbon / analysis
Environmental Monitoring
Hong Kong
Humans
Particle Size
Particulate Matter / analysis
Particulate Matter / toxicity
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons* / analysis

Substances

Air Pollutants
Particulate Matter
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
Carbon