Variations of oxidative potential of PM2.5 in a medium-sized residential city in South Korea measured using three different chemical assays

Pyung-Rae Kim; Sung-Won Park; Young-Ji Han; Myong-Hwa Lee; Thomas M Holsen; Cheol-Heon Jeong; Greg Evans

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171053

Variations of oxidative potential of PM_2.5 in a medium-sized residential city in South Korea measured using three different chemical assays

Sci Total Environ. 2024 Apr 10:920:171053. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171053. Epub 2024 Feb 18.

Authors

Pyung-Rae Kim¹, Sung-Won Park², Young-Ji Han³, Myong-Hwa Lee⁴, Thomas M Holsen⁵, Cheol-Heon Jeong⁶, Greg Evans⁷

Affiliations

¹ Agriculture and Life Sciences Research Institute, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Gangwon-do 24341, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: pyung8847@kangwon.ac.kr.
² Dept. of Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Environmental and Biomedical Convergence, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Gangwon-do 24341, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: prhe96@kangwon.ac.kr.
³ Dept. of Environmental Science, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Gangwon-do 24341, Republic of Korea; Gangwon particle pollution research and management center, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Gangwon-do 24341, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: youngji@kangwon.ac.kr.
⁴ Gangwon particle pollution research and management center, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Gangwon-do 24341, Republic of Korea; Dept. of Environmental Engineering, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Gangwon-do 24341, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: myonghwa@kangwon.ac.kr.
⁵ Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY 13699, USA. Electronic address: tholsen@clarkson.edu.
⁶ Dept. Of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E5, Canada. Electronic address: ch.jeong@utoronto.ca.
⁷ Dept. Of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E5, Canada. Electronic address: greg.evans@utoronto.ca.

PMID: 38378060
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171053

Abstract

Although it is evident that PM_2.5 has serious adverse health effects, there is no consensus on what the biologically effective dose is. In this study, the intrinsic oxidative potential (OPm) and the extrinsic oxidative potential (OPv) of PM_2.5 were measured using three chemical assays including dithiothreitol (DTT), ascorbic acid (AA), and reduced glutathione (GSH), along with chemical compositions of PM_2.5 in South Korea. Among the three chemical assays, only OPm^AA showed a statistically significant correlation with PM_2.5 while OPm^GSH and OPm^DTT were not correlated with PM_2.5 mass concentration. When the samples were categorized by PM_2.5 mass concentrations, the variations in the proportion of Ni, As, Mn, Cd, Pb, and Se to PM_2.5 mass closely coincided with changes in OPm across all three assays, suggesting a potential association between these elements and PM_2.5 OP. Multiple linear regression analysis identified the significant PM components affecting the variability in extrinsic OPv. OPv^AA was determined to be significantly influenced by EC, K⁺, and Ba while OC and Al were common significant factors for OPv^GSH and OPv^DTT. It was also found that primary OC was an important variable for OPv^DTT while secondary OC significantly affected the variability of OPv^GSH.

Keywords: Ascorbic acid; Dithiothreitol; Extrinsic oxidative potential; Glutathione; Intrinsic oxidative potential; PM(2.5).