Department of Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Agricultural Sciences, University of Ferrara, Via Fossato di Mortara 17/19, 44121 Ferrara, Italy.
Environmental Monitoring Sector, Arpa Lombardia, Via Rosellini 17, 20124 Milano, Italy.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Jan 18;20(3):1797. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20031797.
This study describes the chemical and toxicological characteristics of fine particulate matter (PM) in the Po Valley, one of the largest and most polluted areas in Europe. The investigated samples were collected in the metropolitan area of Milan during the epidemic lockdown and their toxicity was evaluated by the oxidative potential (OP), measured using ascorbic acid (OP) and dithiothreitol (OP) acellular assays. The study was also extended to PM samples collected at different sites in the Po Valley in 2019, to represent the baseline conditions in the area. Univariate correlations were applied to the whole dataset to link the OP responses with the concentrations of the major chemical markers of vehicular and biomass burning emissions. Of the two assays, OP was found mainly sensitive towards transition metals released from vehicular traffic, while OP towards the PM carbonaceous components. The impact of the controlling lockdown restrictions on PM oxidative properties was estimated by comparing the OP values in corresponding time spans in 2020 and 2019. We found that during the full lockdown the OP values decreased to 80-86% with respect to the OP data in other urban sites in the area, while the OP values remained nearly constant.
本研究描述了波河谷（欧洲最大和污染最严重的地区之一）细颗粒物（PM）的化学和毒理学特征。研究中采集了米兰大都市区在疫情封锁期间的样本，并使用抗坏血酸（Ascorbic Acid，OP）和二硫苏糖醇（Dithiothreitol，OP）非细胞测定法评估了其毒性。研究还扩展到了 2019 年在波河谷不同地点采集的 PM 样本，以代表该地区的基线条件。对整个数据集进行了单变量相关性分析，将 OP 响应与车辆和生物质燃烧排放的主要化学标志物浓度联系起来。在这两种测定方法中，OP 主要对车辆交通释放的过渡金属敏感，而 OP 则对 PM 的含碳成分敏感。通过比较 2020 年和 2019 年同期的 OP 值，估计了控制封锁限制对 PM 氧化特性的影响。我们发现，在全面封锁期间，OP 值相对于该地区其他城市地点的 OP 数据下降了 80-86%，而 OP 值则基本保持不变。
