Polyhexamethylene guanidine phosphate, chloromethylisothiazolinone, and particulate matter are dispensable for stress granule formation in human airway epithelial cells.

Environmental risk factors are recognized as threats to public health. Stress granules (SGs) are non-membranous assemblies of mRNAs and proteins expressed in response to various stressors to promote cell survival. In this study, SG formation was examined to confirm the effects of polyhexamethylene guanidine phosphate (PHMG), chloromethylisothiazolinone (CMIT), and particulate matter (PM10) in airway epithelial cells, A549, HPAEpiC, and BEAS-2B cells. SGs were not observed after CMIT, PHMG, and PM10 treatments, as determined by immunofluorescence microscopy. Moreover, there was no change in the phosphorylation of the translation initiation factor eIF2αfollowing treatment with PHMG, CMIT, and PM10. Taken together, our findings might help determine the biological hazards of these materials.