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Updated: Sep 12, 2025

Analysis of the Ambient Particulate Matter-induced Chromosomal Aberrations Using an In Vitro System
Published on: December 21, 2016
The Chemical Toxicology of Ambient Air Pollutants
Arthur K Cho1, Yoshito Kumagai2, Yumi Abiko3
1Departments of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology and Environmental Health Sciences, UCLA Center for Health Sciences, Los Angeles, California, USA;
Abstract:
Many of the adverse effects of ambient air pollution have been attributed to reactions of chemical species generated from fossil or biogenic fuel combustion. This review focuses on two reactions: (a) a prooxidant reaction, in which oxygen is reduced to hydrogen peroxide, and (b) covalent bond formation between electron-rich centers on biological targets with reactive compounds called electrophiles. Prooxidants were found to be concentrated in the particulate matter (PM) fraction of ambient air in the Los Angeles Basin with electrophiles concentrated in the volatile organic compound (VOC) fractions. Actions on mouse macrophages indicated the adverse effects to be mostly attributed to the PM, with anti-inflammatory actions to the VOC fraction. The latter observation does not include, however, the adverse effects of VOCs associated with the transient receptor potential (TRP) calcium channels on epithelial cells, a perspective that needs further investigation.
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