ACP Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ACP 1680-7324 Copernicus GmbH Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/acp-12-7365-2012 Comparative assessment of ecotoxicity of urban aerosol Turóczi B. 1 Hoffer A. 2 Tóth Á. 1 Kováts N. 1 Ács A. 1 Ferincz Á. 1 Kovács A. 1 Gelencsér A. 1 University of Pannonia, Institute of Environmental Sciences, Veszprém, Hungary Air Chemistry Group of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Veszprém, Hungary 16 08 2012 12 16 7365 7370 This is an open-access article ditributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. This article is available from http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/12/7365/2012/acp-12-7365-2012.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/12/7365/2012/acp-12-7365-2012.pdf

In addition to its mass concentration, the health effects of urban particulate matter may depend on its particle size distribution and chemical composition. Yet air pollution regulations rely on exclusively bulk PM<sub>10</sub> concentration measurements, without regard to their potentially different health effects under different conditions. Aerosols from various sources are well known to contain a plethora of toxic, carcinogenic, mutagenic or teratogenic constituents such as heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Extensive public health studies established the link between mass concentrations of PM<sub>2.5</sub> / PM<sub>10</sub> and health problems within the population. However, little is known about the relative importance of PM from different sources and the effect of seasonality on the toxicity. Here we present the application of a simple and sensitive method for the direct assessment of the overall ecotoxicity of various PM<sub>2.5</sub> / PM<sub>10</sub> samples collected on filters. The method is based on the <i>Vibrio fischeri</i> bioluminescence inhibition bioassay that has been standardized for solid samples, representing a relevant biological exposure route. Direct emission samples proved to be significantly more ecotoxic than photochemically processed aerosol, thus marked differences were observed between the ecotoxicities of urban PM<sub>10</sub> in summer and winter. These effects of urban PM<sub>10</sub> may be useful supplementary indicators besides the mass concentrations of PM<sub>2.5</sub> / PM<sub>10</sub> in cities.

 References Cho, A. K., Sioutas, C., Miguel, A. H., Kumagai, Y., Schmitz, D. A., Singh, M., Eiguren-Fernandez, A., and Froines, J. R.: Redox activity of airborne particulate matter at different sites in the Los Angeles Basin, Environ. Res., 99, 40–47, 2005. DeVizcaya-Ruiz, A., Gutiérrez-Castillo, M. E., Uribe-Ramirez, M., Cebrián, M. E., Mugica-Alvarez, V., Sepulvéda, J., Rosas, I., Salinas, E., Garcia-Cuéllar, C., Martínez, F., Alfaro-Moreno, E., Torres-Flores, V., Osornio-Vargas, A., Sioutas, C., Fine, P. M., Singh, M., Geller, M. D., Kuhn, T., Miguel, A. H., Eiguren-Fernandez, A., Schiestl, R. H., Reliene, R., and Froines, J.: Characterization and in vitro biological effects of concentrated particulate matter from Mexico City, Atmos. Environ., 40, S583–S592, 2006. Fort, F.: Correlation of Microtox EC, with mouse LD, Toxicol. in Vitro, 5, 73–82, 1992. Gelencsér, A., May, B., Simpson, D., Sánchez-Ochoa, A., Kasper-Giebl, A., Puxbaum, H., Caseiro, A., Pio, C., and Legrand, M.: Source apportionment of PM$_2.5$ organic aerosol over Europe: Primary/secondary, natural/anthropogenic, and fossil/biogenic origin, J. Geophys. Res., 112, D23S04, http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2006JD008094doi:10.1029/2006JD008094, 2007. Gelencsér, A., Kováts, N., Turóczi, B., Rostási, Á., Hoffer, A., Imre, K., Nyirõ-Kósa, I., Csákberényi-Malasics, D., Tóth, Á., Czitrovszky, A., Nagy, A., Nagy, Sz., Ács, A., Kovács, A., Ferincz, Á., Hartyáni, Zs., and Pósfai, M.: The red mud accident in Ajka (Hungary): Characterization and potential health effects of fugitive dust, Environ. Sci. Technol., 45, 1608–1615, 2011. Geller, M. D., Ntziachristos, L., Mamakos, A., Samaras, Z., Schmitz, D. A., Froines, J. R., and Sioutas, C.: Physicochemical and redox characteristics of particulate matter (PM) emitted from gasoline and diesel passenger cars, Atmos. Environ., 40, 6988–7004, 2006. Graham, L.: Chemical characterization of emissions from advanced technology light-duty vehicles, Atmos. Environ., 39, 2385–2398, 2005. Isidori, M., Ferrara, M., Lavorgna, M., Nardelli, A., and Parrella, A.: In situ monitoring of urban air in Southern Italy with the tradescantia micronucleus bioassay and semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs), Chemosphere, 52, 121–126, 2003. Kelly, F. J. and Fussell, J. C.: Size, Source and Chemical Composition as Determinants of Toxicity Attributable to Ambient Particulate Matter, Atmos. Environ., 60, 504–526, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2012.06.039doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2012.06.039, 2012. Klippel, N. and Nussbaumer, T.: Health relevance of particles from wood combustion in comparison to diesel soot, 15th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, Berlin, 7–11 May, 2007. Kováts, N., Ács, A., Kovács, A., Ferincz, Á., Turóczi, B., and Gelencsér, A.: Direct contact test for estimating the ecotoxicity of aerosol samples, Environ. Toxicol. Phar., 33, 223–228, 2012. Lappalainen, J., Juvonen, R., Vaajasaari, K., and Karp, M.: A new flash method for measuring the toxicity of solid and colored samples, Chemosphere, 38, 1069–1083, 1999. Lin, T. H. and Chao, M. R.: Assessing the influence of methanol-containing additive on biological characteristics of diesel exhaust emissions using microtox and mutatox assays, Sci. Total Environ., 284, 61–74, 2002. Lowenthal, D. H., Zielinska, B., Chow, J. C., Watson, J. G., Gautam, M., and Stevens, K. D.: Characterization of heavy-duty diesel vehicle emissions, Atmos. Environ., 28, 731–743, 1994. Matti Maricq, M.: Chemical characterization of particulate emissions from diesel engines: A review, J. Aerosol Sci., 38, 1079–1118, 2007. Medeiros, P. M. and Simoneit, B. R. T.: Analysis of sugars in environmental samples by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, J. Chromatogr. A, 1141, 271–278, 2007. Montiel-Dávalos, A., Ibarra-Sánchez, M. J., Ventura-Gallegos, J. L., Alfaro-Moreno, E., and López-Marure, R.: Oxidative stress and apoptosis are induced in human endothelial cells exposed to urban particulate matter, Toxicol. in Vitro, 24, 135–141, 2010. Papadimitriou, C. A., Haritou, I., Samaras, P., and Zouboulis, A. I.: Evaluation of leaching and ecotoxicological properties of sewage sludge-fly ash mixtures, Environ. Res., 106, 340–348, 2008. Pope, C. A. and Dockery, D. W.: Health effects of fine particulate air pollution: Lines that connect, J. Air Waste Manage., 56, 709–742, 2006. Putaud, J. P., Van Dingenen, R., Alastuey, A., Bauer, H., Birmili, W., Cyrys, J., Flentje, H., Fuzzi, S., Gehrig, R., Hansson, H. C., Harrison, R. M., Herrmann, H., Hitzenberger, R., Hüglin, C., Jones, A. M., Kasper-Giebl, A., Kiss, G., Kousa, A., Kuhlbusch, T. A. J., Löschau, G., Maenhaut, W., Molnar, A., Moreno, T., Pekkanen, J., Perrino, C., Pitz, M., Puxbaum, H., Querol, X., Rodriguez, S., Salma, I., Schwarz, J., Smolik, J., Schneider, J., Spindler, G., ten Brink, H., Tursic, J., Viana, M., Wiedensohler, A., and Raes, F.: A European Aerosol Phenomenology – 3: physical and chemical characteristics of particulate matter from 60 rural, urban, and kerbside sites across Europe, Atmos. Environ., 44, 1308–1320, 2010. Reid, B. J., Semple, K. T., Macleod, C. J., Weitz , H. J., and Paton, G. I.: Feasibility of using prokaryote biosensors to assess acute toxicity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, FEMS Microbiol. Lett., 169, 227–233, 1998. Schauer, J. J., Lough, G. C., Shafer, M. M., Christensen, W. F., Arndt, M. F., DeMinter, J. T., and Park, J. S.: Characterization of metals emitted from motor vehicles, Health Effect Institute, 2006. Soto, K. F., Garza, K. M., Shi, Y., and Murr, L. E.: Direct contact cytotoxicity assays for filter-collected, carbonaceous (soot) nanoparticulate material and observations of lung cell response, Atmos. Environ., 42, 1970–1982, 2008. Steenhof, M., Gosens, I., Strak, M., Godri, K. J., Hoek, G., Cassee, F. R., Mudway, I. S., Kelly, F. J., Harrison, R. M., Lebret, E., Brunekreef, B., Janssen, N. AH., Pieters, R. HH.: In vitro toxicity of particulate matter (PM) collected at different sites in the Netherlands is associated with PM composition, size fraction and oxidative potential – the RAPTES project, Part. Fibre Toxicol., 8, 26, http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1743-8977-8-26doi:10.1186/1743-8977-8-26, 2011. Turóczi, B., Hoffer, A., Nyírõ-Kósa, I., and Gelencsér, A.: Sampling and characterization of resuspended and respirable urban particulate matter, J. Air Waste Manage., in review, 2012. Verma, V., Pakbin, P., Cheung, K. L., Cho, A. K., Schauer, J. J., Shafer, M. M., Kleinman, M. T., and Sioutas, C.: Physicochemical and oxidative characteristics of semi-volatile components of quasi-ultrafine particles in an urban atmosphere, Atmos. Environ., 45, 1025–1033, 2011. Vouitsis, E., Ntziachristos, L., Pistikopoulos, P., Samaras, Z., Chrysikou, L., Samara, C., Papadimitriou, C., Samaras, P., and Sakellaropoulos, G.: An investigation on the physical, chemical and ecotoxicological characteristics of particulate matter emitted from light-duty vehicles, Environ. Pollut., 157, 2320–2327, 2009.