Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Effect of reaerosolized fly ash from an atmospheric fluidized bed combustor on murine alveolar macrophages

Conference ·
OSTI ID:5544151

Male B6CF/sub 1/ mice were exposed to reaerosolized fly ash. The fly ash was collected from the final filter of an atmospheric pressure fluidized-bed coal combustor and reaerosolized from a liquid nitrogen suspension. In four short experiments, (30-36 hrs; 6 hrs/day for 5-6 days) the fly ash was a composite of both start-up and steady-state material. In another experiment of longer duration (100 hrs; 6 hrs/day over a 4-week period), the fly ash used consisted of material from only steady-state operation of the combustor. Fly ash collected during steady-state operation is about 10 times less mutagenic in the Ames Salmonella test than is fly ash collected during start-up operation of the combustor. Mice exposed to fly ash in the short experiments showed a 2 to 4 fold increase in the number of alveolar macrophages 4 days after exposure and these macrophages were full of engulfed particles when examined by light microscopy. In in vitro tests 4-26 days after this exposure, macrophages from mice were unable to kill a challenge dose of Staphylococcus aureus as effectively as those from control mice. There was impairment in both phagocytic ability and in intracellular killing. Macrophages from mice exposed for 100 hrs to fly ash collected during steady-state operation were similarly full of engulfed particles when examined 4 days after exposure. However, the ability of these macrophages to kill S. aureus was unimpaired at this time and six months after exposure. These early observations suggest that the presence of mutagenic material on fly ash impairs the ability of macrophages to phagocytize and kill a challenge dose of S. aureus.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
W-31109-ENG-38
OSTI ID:
5544151
Report Number(s):
CONF-791002-3
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English