AAAR 32nd Annual Conference
September 30 - October 4, 2013
Oregon Convention Center
Portland, Oregon, USA
Abstract View
Carbonaceous Nanoparticle Toxicity as a Function of Ferrous Iron Content
DAN HINZ, Hsiang Teng, Hoi Ting, Anne Johansen, Central Washington University
Abstract Number: 710 Working Group: Carbonaceous Aerosols in the Atmosphere
Abstract Experiments on mitochondria indicate that toxicity of inhalable atmospheric nanoparticles that are emitted from fossil fuel combustion correlates with both ferrous iron (Fe(II)) and anthracene concentrations in collected ultrafine particles (UFP). To further understand underlying chemical mechanisms responsible for this detrimental effect, UFPs and carbonaceous nanoparticles are investigated under near physiological conditions while analyzing Fe(II) and the representative oxidative species hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Realistic concentrations of Fe(II) at sub-nanomolar and H2O2 at nanomolar levels are quantified using flow injection analysis (FIA) with chemiluminescence. Results show that biological electron donors play a significant role when exposed to black carbon particles that are used as UFP proxy material. Furthermore, preliminary results show that black carbon (Printex 90) in the presence of ascorbate generated H2O2. Fe(II) did not show a significant increase in H2O2 under the conditions tested. This study will shed light on the chemical processes and significance of the chemical species Fe(II) and anthracene-like molecules that seem to be responsible for the toxicity of inhalable carbonaceous particles that are emitted from the incomplete combustion of fossil fuel.