skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Pulmonary retention of inhaled diesel particles after prolonged exposures to diesel exhaust

Journal Article · · Fundam. Appl. Toxicol.; (United States)

The effect of continuous exposure to diluted diesel exhaust on the pulmonary retention of inhaled diesel particles was studied in male Fischer 344 rats. Test animals were first exposed to clean air or diluted diesel exhaust in exposure chambers at nominal particulate concentrations of 250 micrograms/m/sup 3/ or 6 mg/m/sup 3/ for 20 hr/day, 7 days/week, for periods lasting from 7 to 112 days, followed by a nose-only exposure to /sup 14/C-tagged diesel particles for 45 min. At preselected time intervals after the radioactive exposure, the /sup 14/C-activities in the lungs of groups of four animals were measured to determine the clearance of the /sup 14/C-diesel particles up to 1 year. The pulmonary retention of the radioactive diesel particles was greater in animals which had been preexposed to diesel exhaust. The slower alveolar clearance of particle-laden macrophages and leukocytes can be described by a normal biphasic clearance model.

Research Organization:
General Motors Technical Center, Warren, MI
OSTI ID:
5776208
Journal Information:
Fundam. Appl. Toxicol.; (United States), Vol. 4:4
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English