Oxidative potential associated with reactive oxygen species of size-resolved particles: The important role of the specific sources

Kaixing Yao; Yihao Xu; Han Zheng; Xinji Zhang; Yixuan Song; Huibin Guo

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.121122

Oxidative potential associated with reactive oxygen species of size-resolved particles: The important role of the specific sources

J Environ Manage. 2024 May 10:360:121122. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.121122. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Kaixing Yao¹, Yihao Xu¹, Han Zheng¹, Xinji Zhang¹, Yixuan Song¹, Huibin Guo²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Environmental Engineering, Xiamen University of Technology, Xiamen, 361024, China.
² Department of Environmental Engineering, Xiamen University of Technology, Xiamen, 361024, China. Electronic address: guohb@xmut.edu.cn.

PMID: 38733850
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.121122

Abstract

Oxidative potential (OP) is a predictor of particulate matter (PM) toxicity. Size-resolved PM and its components that influence OP values can be generated from several sources. However, There is little research have attempted to determine the PM toxicity generated from specific sources. This paper studied the OP characterization and reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation of particles from specific sources and their effects on human health. OP associated with ROS of size-resolved particles was analyzed by using dithiothreitol (DTT) method and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy technology. And OP and ROS deposition of specific source PM were calculated for health through the Multi-path particle deposition (MPPD) model. The results evidenced that the highest water-soluble OP (OP_ws) from traffic sources (OP_m: 104.50 nmol min^-1·ug^-1; OP_v: 160.15 nmol min^-1·m^-3) and the lowest from ocean sources (OP_m: 22.25 nmol⋅min^-1⋅ug^-1; OP_v: 54.16 nmol min^-1·m^-3). The OP_ws allocation in PM from different sources all have a unimodal pattern range from 0.4 to 3.2 μm. ROS (·OH) displayed the uniform trend as PM OP_ws, indicating that PM_{< 3.2} is the major contributor to adverse health impacts for size-resolved PM because of its enhanced oxidative activity compared with PM_{> 3.2}. Furthermore, this study predicted the DTT consumption of PM were assigned to different components. Most DTT losses are attributed to the transition metals. For specific sources, transition metals dominates DTT losses, accounting for 38%-80% of DTT losses from different sources, followed by Hulis-C, accounting for 1%-10%. MPPD model calculates that over 66% of pulmonary DTT loss comes by PM_{< 3.2}, and over 71% of pulmonary ROS generation from PM_{< 3.2}. Among these sources of pollution, traffic emissions are the primary contributors to reactive oxygen species (ROS) in environmental particulate matter (PM). Therefore, emphasis should be placed on controlling traffic emissions, especially in coastal areas.

Keywords: Dithiothreitol loss rate; Multi-path particle deposition model; Particulate matter components; Reactive oxygen species activity; Specific sources.