Respiratory toxicity of repeated exposure to particles produced by traffic and sugar cane burning

Abstract

We compared the toxicity of subchronic exposure to equivalent masses of particles from sugar cane burning and traffic. BALB/c mice received 3 intranasal instillations/week during 1, 2 or 4 weeks of either distilled water (C1, C2, C4) or particles (15μg) from traffic (UP1, UP2, UP4) or biomass burning (BP1, BP2, BP4). Lung mechanics, histology and oxidative stress were analyzed 24h after the last instillation. In all instances UP and BP groups presented worse pulmonary elastance, airway and tissue resistance, alveolar collapse, bronchoconstriction and macrophage influx into the lungs than controls. UP4, BP2 and BP4 presented more alveolar collapse than UP1 and BP1, respectively. UP and BP had worse bronchial and alveolar lesion scores than their controls; BP4 had greater bronchial lesion scores than UP4. Catalase was higher in UP4 and BP4 than in C4. In conclusion, biomass particles were more toxic than those from traffic after repeated exposures.

Keywords: Air pollution; Lung mechanics; Oxidative stress; Particulate matter; Sugar cane burning.