Characterization of chemical components and cytotoxicity effects of indoor and outdoor fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in Xi’an, China

Niu, Xinyi; Ho, Kin Fai; Hu, Tafeng; Sun, Jian; Duan, Jing; Huang, Yu; Lui, Ka Hei; Cao, Junji

Characterization of chemical components and cytotoxicity effects of indoor and outdoor fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in Xi’an, China

2019

The chemical and cytotoxicity properties of fine particulate matter (PM₂.₅) at indoor and outdoor environment were characterized in Xi’an, China. The mass concentrations of PM₂.₅ in urban areas (93.29~96.13 μg m⁻³ for indoor and 124.37~154.52 μg m⁻³ for outdoor) were higher than suburban (68.40 μg m⁻³ for indoor and 96.18 μg m⁻³ for outdoor). The PM₂.₅ concentrations from outdoor environment due to fossil fuel combustion were higher than indoor environment. An indoor environment without central heating demonstrated higher organic carbon-to-elemental carbon (OC / EC) ratios and n-alkanes values that potentially attributed to residential coal combustion activities. The cell viability of human epithelial lung cells showed dose-dependent decrease, while nitric oxide (NO) and oxidative potential showed dose-dependent increase under exposure to PM₂.₅. The variations of bioreactivities could be possibly related to different chemical components from different sources. Moderate (0.4 < R < 0.6) to strong (R > 0.6) correlations were observed between bioreactivities and elemental carbon (EC)/secondary aerosols (NO₃⁻, SO₄²⁻, and NH₄⁺)/heavy metals (Ni, Cu, and Pb). The findings suggest PM₂.₅ is associated with particle induced oxidative potential, which are further responsible for respiratory diseases under chronic exposure.

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