Airborne particles in the city of Córdoba, Argentine

CARRERAS, H; CALDERON SEGURA. M.E; RODRIGUEZ, I.; MURILLO,M; AMADOR MUNOZ, O; GOMEZ ARROYO, S.

Boston Usa

Congreso; Urban Environmental Pollution. Overcoming Obstacles to Sustainability and Quality of Life.; 2010

Elsevier Press

In the last few years special care was devoted to suspended particulate matter due to the fact that evidence is consistent in showing adverse health effects from exposures that are currently experienced by urban populations. Previous studies have demonstrated that in the city of Cordoba, Argentine, the levels of particulate material are often higher than the suggested guideline values, particularly during wintertime. Thus, the single cell gel electrophoresis (SCGE) w used to assess the genotoxicity of organic compounds associated to particulate material collected in  Cordoba city during three distinct seasons. Samples of airborne particulate matter ≤10 µm (PM10) were collected on fiber glass filters. Organic matter adsorbed to PM10 on each filter was extracted with dichloromethane, concentrated and then the components were identified by a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer. The same extracts were employed for the SCGE assay on human lymphocytes and for the MCN test with Tradescantia pallida. The analysis of organic extracts reveals the presence of many polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons suggesting that the main emission source for organic compounds in the airborne particle phase in this area were vehicles with combustion of gasoline and diesel. On the other hand, the results suggest that the extent of genotoxic change caused by pollutants depended at least in part on the seasonal weather, being higher during winter. Besides, the genotoxic activities observed in the two test systems were comparable. These results demonstrate the sensitivity of both assays for the biological monitoring of environmental pollution related to organic extracts associated to airborne particles.