Ambient air particulate matters are classified into two distinct modes in size distribution, namely the coarse and fine particles. Correlation between high particulate concentration and adverse effects on human populations has long been recognized. However, the toxicology of these adverse effects has not been clarified. We investigated the genotoxic effect of PM 2.5 collected from urban area in Seoul by comet assay (A549 cells), CBMN assay (CHO-K1 cells) and EROD-microbioassay (H4IIE cells). Results from in vitro micronucleus assay and comet assay showed that PM 2.5 samples collected from traffic area, residential area and indoor air induced chromosomal damage and DNA breakage in a non-cytotoxic dose. The complex mixture effect of these PM 2.5 extracts was quantified by EROD-microbioassay in terms of its bio-TEQ (biological-TCDD equivalent concentration) which was 70.87±28.07, 93.55±21.80 and 14.31±1.10 ng/g-PM 2.5 in traffic area, residential area and indoor air samples, respectively. Conclusively, we suggested that PM 2.5 collected from traffic area and residential area contains CYP1A inducer and genotoxic materials.
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