Campbell Steven J, Utinger Battist, Barth Alexandre, Leni Zaira, Zhang Zhi-Hui, Resch Julian, Li Kangwei, Steimer Sarah S, Banach Catherine, Gfeller Benjamin, Wragg Francis P H, Westwood Joe, Wolfer Kate, Bukowiecki Nicolas, Ihalainen Mika, Yli-Pirilä Pasi, Somero Markus, Kortelainen Miika, Louhisalmi Juho, Sklorz Martin, Czech Hendryk, di Bucchianico Sebastiano, Streibel Thorsten, Delaval Mathilde N, Ruger Christopher, Baumlin Nathalie, Salathe Matthias, Fang Zheng, Pardo Michal, D'Aronco Sara, Giorio Chiara, Shi Zongbo, Harrison Roy M, Green David C, Kelly Frank J, Rudich Yinon, Paulson Suzanne E, Sippula Olli, Zimmermann Ralf, Geiser Marianne, Kalberer Markus
MRC Centre for Environment and Health, Environmental Research Group, Imperial College London, 86 Wood Lane, London W12 0BZ, UK.
Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 27, 4056 Basel, Switzerland.
Sci Adv. 2025 Mar 21;11(12):eadp8100. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adp8100. Epub 2025 Mar 19.
Exposure to airborne particulate matter (PM) has been attributed to millions of deaths annually. However, the PM components responsible for observed health effects remain unclear. Oxidative potential (OP) has gained increasing attention as a key property that may explain PM toxicity. Using online measurement methods that impinge particles for OP quantification within seconds, we reveal that 60 to 99% of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and OP in secondary organic aerosol and combustion-generated PM have a lifetime of minutes to hours and that the ROS activity of ambient PM decays substantially before offline analysis. This implies that current offline measurement methods substantially underestimate the true OP of PM. We demonstrate that short-lived OP components activate different toxicity pathways upon direct deposition onto reconstituted human bronchial epithelia. Therefore, we suggest that future air pollution and health studies should include online OP quantification, allowing more accurate assessments of links between OP and health effects.
暴露于空气中的颗粒物（PM）每年导致数百万例死亡。然而，导致观察到的健康影响的PM成分仍不清楚。氧化潜力（OP）作为可能解释PM毒性的关键特性，越来越受到关注。我们使用在线测量方法，在几秒钟内撞击颗粒以进行OP定量，结果表明，二次有机气溶胶和燃烧产生的PM中60%至99%的活性氧（ROS）和OP的寿命为几分钟到几小时，并且在离线分析之前，环境PM的ROS活性会大幅下降。这意味着当前的离线测量方法大大低估了PM的真实OP。我们证明，短寿命的OP成分在直接沉积到重组人支气管上皮细胞上时会激活不同的毒性途径。因此，我们建议未来的空气污染与健康研究应包括在线OP定量，以便更准确地评估OP与健康影响之间的联系。
