Abstract Number: 230 Working Group: Aerosol Exposure
Abstract Several studies have shown that exposure to particulate matter correlates with cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases. The particles upon inhalation lead to local cellular reactions in the lung tissue, such as oxidative stress and direct cytotoxic effects. Traffic related combustion processes, like gasoline and diesel engine, are major contributors to these pollutions. The exhaust emissions from these engines are influenced by driving speed, acceleration and deceleration, ambient temperature, and engine operating temperature. Since dynamometer testing under laboratory conditions suffers from non-representativeness of actual driving conditions, lots of researchers use portable instruments to measure the pollutants under the real states. However, to the best of our knowledge, few studies provide the toxicological data of these. Hence, the purpose of this study is to establish a PM toxicity evaluation platform for tailpipe emissions under disparate real driving conditions. The second version of On-Board Diagnostic system (OBDII system) and portable instruments were used to carried out on-board tests. The system was used to measure engine parameters over time. Combining the vehicle data with quantity of emissions measured by the instruments, the variety of concentrations of black carbon, particulate matter (PM), and gases were analyzed in real traffic situations. Simultaneously, the lab-made electrostatic precipitation air-liquid interface (ESP-ALI) exposure system was used to perform cell toxicity tests. Cytotoxicity tests were implemented by assessing the viability of human monocytic cell line (THP-1). Also, oxidative potential of the PM was assessed through the cell-free dithiothreitol (DDT) assay. The details of the PM toxicity evaluation platform, cell toxicity and oxidative potential of PM under real driving conditions will be given in this presentation.