Epidemiological studies have suggested that inhalation exposure to particulate matter (PM) air pollution, especially fine particles (i.e., PM2.5 (PM with an aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 microns or less)), is causally associated with cardiovascular health risks. To explore the toxicological mechanisms behind the observed adverse health effects, the hemolytic activity of PM2.5 samples collected during different pollution levels in Beijing was evaluated. The results demonstrated that the hemolysis of PM2.5 ranged from 1.98% to 7.75% and demonstrated a clear dose-response relationship. The exposure toxicity index (TI) is proposed to represent the toxicity potential of PM2.5, which is calculated by the hemolysis percentage of erythrocytes (red blood cells, RBC) multiplied by the mass concentration of PM2.5. In a pollution episode, as the mass concentration increases, TI first increases and then decreases, that is, TI (low pollution levels) < TI (heavy pollution levels) < TI (medium pollution levels). In order to verify the feasibility of the hemolysis method for PM toxicity detection, the hemolytic properties of PM2.5 were compared with the plasmid scission assay (PSA). The hemolysis results had a significant positive correlation with the DNA damage percentages, indicating that the hemolysis assay is feasible for the detection of PM2.5 toxicity, thus providing more corroborating information regarding the risk to human cardiovascular health.
Keywords: PM2.5; erythrocyte; health risk; hemolysis; plasmid scission assay; toxicity index.