Pollution characteristics, exposure assessment and potential cardiotoxicities of PM2.5-bound benzotriazole and its derivatives in typical Chinese cities

Chun Yang; Shiyao He; Shimin Lu; Xiaoliang Liao; Yuanyuan Song; Zhi-Feng Chen; Guoxia Zhang; Ruijin Li; Chuan Dong; Zenghua Qi; Zongwei Cai

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151132

Pollution characteristics, exposure assessment and potential cardiotoxicities of PM_2.5-bound benzotriazole and its derivatives in typical Chinese cities

Sci Total Environ. 2022 Feb 25:809:151132. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151132. Epub 2021 Oct 22.

Authors

Chun Yang¹, Shiyao He¹, Shimin Lu¹, Xiaoliang Liao¹, Yuanyuan Song², Zhi-Feng Chen¹, Guoxia Zhang³, Ruijin Li⁴, Chuan Dong⁴, Zenghua Qi⁵, Zongwei Cai⁶

Affiliations

¹ Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Joint Laboratory for Contaminants Exposure and Health, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Institute of Environmental Health and Pollution Control, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Environmental and Biological Analysis, Department of Chemistry, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China.
³ Department of Environmental Health, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Research, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China.
⁴ Institute of Environmental Science, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, China.
⁵ Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Joint Laboratory for Contaminants Exposure and Health, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Institute of Environmental Health and Pollution Control, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China. Electronic address: zenghuaqi@gdut.edu.cn.
⁶ Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Joint Laboratory for Contaminants Exposure and Health, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Institute of Environmental Health and Pollution Control, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China; State Key Laboratory of Environmental and Biological Analysis, Department of Chemistry, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China. Electronic address: zwcai@hkbu.edu.hk.

PMID: 34695464
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151132

Abstract

Benzotriazole and its derivatives (BTRs), classified as high-volume production chemicals, have been widely detected in various environmental media, including the atmosphere, water, soil and dust, as well as organisms. However, studies on the pollution characteristics and health impact of PM_2.5 related BTRs are so far limited. This study is the first to demonstrate the regional scale distribution of PM_2.5-bound BTRs and their potential cardiotoxicities. Optimized methods of extraction, purification and GC-EI-MS/MS were applied to characterize and analyze PM_2.5-bound BTRs from three cities in China during the winter of 2018. The concentration of ∑BTRs in Taiyuan (6.28 ng·m^-3) was more than three times that in Shanghai (1.53 ng·m^-3) and Guangzhou (1.99 ng·m^-3). Benzotriazole (BTR) and 5-methyl-1H-benzotriazole (5TTR) contributed more than 80% of ∑BTRs concentration as the major pollutants among three cities. The correlation analysis indicated that there was a positive correlation between temperature and concentration of BTR and a negative correlation between temperature and concentration of 5TTR. In addition, the risk of BTRs exposure to toddlers should be paid more attention in Taiyuan by the human exposure assessment. Furthermore, toxicity screening by experimental methods indicated that 4-methyl-1H-benzotriazole (4TTR) was the most harmful to cardiomyocytes. The western blot assay showed a ROS-mediated mitochondrial apoptosis signaling pathway was activated after exposure to 4TTR in neonatal rat cardiomyocytes (NRCMs). On the other hand, metabolomics revealed that exposure of 4TTR to NRCMs disturbed mitochondrial energy metabolism by disturbing pantothenate and coenzyme A synthesis pathway. Our study not only clarifies the contamination profiles of PM_2.5-bound BTRs in typical Chinese cities but also reveals their cardiotoxicities associated with mitochondrial dysfunction.

Keywords: Benzotriazole; Cardiotoxicity; Exposure risk; PM(2.5); Pollution characteristic.

MeSH terms

Air Pollutants* / analysis
Air Pollutants* / toxicity
Animals
Cardiotoxicity*
China
Cities
Dust
Environmental Monitoring
Humans
Particulate Matter / analysis
Particulate Matter / toxicity
Rats
Tandem Mass Spectrometry
Triazoles

Substances

Air Pollutants
Dust
Particulate Matter
Triazoles
benzotriazole