Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering in Ministry of Education, Medical School of Southeast University, Nanjing 210009, China.
Institute of Health and Environmental Medicine, Key Laboratory of Risk Assessment and Control Technology for Environmental & Food Safety, Tianjin 300050, China.
J Hazard Mater. 2014 Jun 15;274:106-14. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2014.03.064. Epub 2014 Apr 13.
Numerous studies have demonstrated the toxic effects of fine particle matter less than 2.5 μm (PM2.5) on health of human. However, little information is available on PM2.5 ecotoxicity. We employed Caenorhabditis elegans to investigate the adverse effects of traffic-related PM2.5 on exposed animals and their progeny. Acute exposure to high concentrations of PM2.5 in the range of mg/L caused adverse effects on development, lifespan, reproduction, and locomotion behavior of nematodes. In contrast, prolonged exposure to low concentrations of PM2.5 in the range of μg/L resulted in adverse effects on development, lifespan, reproduction, locomotion behavior, and intestinal development of nematodes. Prolonged exposure to PM2.5 could even cause adverse effects on lifespan, reproduction, locomotion behavior, and intestinal development in progeny of exposed nematodes. PM2.5 toxicity was only partially recovered in progeny of exposed nematodes. For the PM2.5 toxicity on nematodes and their progeny, we hypothesize that it might be the combinational effects of oxidative stress, damage on intestinal barrier, and abnormal defecation behavior. Our data here imply the potential toxic effects of long-term exposure to traffic-related PM2.5 on environmental organisms. Our results further highlight the possible crucial roles of biological barrier and defecation behavior in regulating the PM2.5 toxicity.
大量研究表明，直径小于 2.5μm（PM2.5）的细颗粒物对人体健康具有毒性作用。然而，关于 PM2.5 的生态毒性的信息却很少。本研究采用秀丽隐杆线虫来研究交通相关 PM2.5 对暴露动物及其后代的不良影响。急性暴露于高浓度 PM2.5（mg/L 范围）会对线虫的发育、寿命、繁殖和运动行为产生不良影响。相比之下，长时间暴露于低浓度 PM2.5（μg/L 范围）会对线虫的发育、寿命、繁殖、运动行为和肠道发育产生不良影响。长时间暴露于 PM2.5 甚至会对线虫后代的寿命、繁殖、运动行为和肠道发育产生不良影响。暴露线虫后代的 PM2.5 毒性仅部分恢复。对于 PM2.5 对线虫及其后代的毒性，我们假设可能是氧化应激、肠道屏障损伤和异常排粪行为的综合作用。本研究数据表明，长期暴露于交通相关 PM2.5 可能对环境生物具有潜在的毒性作用。我们的研究结果进一步强调了生物屏障和排粪行为在调节 PM2.5 毒性方面的可能关键作用。
