Health effects of exposure to diesel exhaust particles
Diesel-powered vehicles emit substantially more particles than do gasoline-powered vehicles with contemporary emission control systems. The DEP are submicron in size and readily inhaled. Approximately one-fourth of the particle mass inhaled by people is deposited in the pulmonary region, some of which is retained with a half-life of several hundred days. In animal studies, exposure to high levels of DEP overwhelms the normal clearance mechanisms and results in lung burdens of DEP that exceed those predicted from observations at lower exposure concentrations. A variable amount of the mass of DEP is extractable with strong organic solvents. The extracted material contains more than a thousand individual compounds and is mutagenic in a number of bacterial and mammalian cell assays. Bioassay-directed chemical analysis of DEP had identified several hundred compounds. Many are PAHs, some of which are considered to have human carcinogenic potential. A number of nitrated compounds have been identified that account for a significant portion of the mutagenicity assayed in bacteria. The mutagenicity of the DEPE is generally reduced by addition of an S-9 cellular fraction or of serum proteins. Macrophages rapidly reduce the recoverable mutagenic activity associated with DEP. The association of benzo(a)pyrene and nitropyrene with DEP prolongs their retention in the lungs. This increased retention suggests the need to clarify the relative importance of competing mechanisms that detoxify particle-associated compounds and those that serve to enhance the retention of toxicologically important compounds. 109 references.
- Research Organization:
- Lovelace Biomedical and Environmental Research Institute, Albuquerque, NM
- OSTI ID:
- 6350751
- Journal Information:
- Annu. Rev. Pharmacol. Toxicol.; (United States), Journal Name: Annu. Rev. Pharmacol. Toxicol.; (United States)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
BENZOPYRENE
CARCINOGEN SCREENING
MUTAGEN SCREENING
DIESEL FUELS
EXHAUST GASES
HEALTH HAZARDS
NITRO COMPOUNDS
PYRENE
BACTERIA
BIOLOGICAL HALF-LIFE
MUTAGENS
PARTICLE SIZE
AROMATICS
CONDENSED AROMATICS
FLUIDS
GASEOUS WASTES
GASES
HAZARDS
HYDROCARBONS
MICROORGANISMS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
SCREENING
SIZE
WASTES
560300* - Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology