Different biological effects of PM2.5 from coal combustion, gasoline exhaust and urban ambient air relate to the PAH/metal compositions

Abstract Few studies have compared the biological effects of PM 2.5 from coal combustion, gasoline exhaust and urban ambient air, and the roles of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and metals playing in the process remain unclear. In this study, PM 2.5 samples from coal combustion, gasoline exhaust and urban ambient air were analyzed for 16 PAHs and 23 metals. Cytotoxic and inflammatory effects of different PM 2.5 were evaluated on differentiated THP-1 and A549 cells, respectively. We found that the coal combustion PM 2.5 samples induced stronger cytotoxic and inflammatory effects ( p   0.05). Pearson’s correlation and principal component analysis showed that the PAHs containing four or more benzenoid rings and specific metals of cadmium, thallium, zinc and lead were positively related to the biological effects. Our results suggested that coal combustion PM 2.5 might be a more serious health hazard. Specific PAHs and metals might be account for the PM 2.5 induced biological effects.