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Solubility and dissolution kinetics of particle-bound metals in a surrogate lung fluid

Sara D'Aronco, Valerio Di Marco, Alberto Gambalunga, Federica Chiara, Andrea Trevisan, Chiara Giorio

Abstract

Rationale. Metals in airborne particles can interact with lung fluids once particles are inhaled and cause oxidative stress. Their oxidative potential is dependent on their solubility and dissolution kinetics in the lung fluids. Methodology. In this study, we collected PM2.5 samples from the city of Padova (Italy), in the northern Italian Po Valley. We investigated the solubility and dissolution kinetics of particle-bound metals in a surrogate epithelial lining fluid (SELF) and compared the results to those obtained for a fog water. Results. We found that most elements present a complex dissolution kinetics characterised by three phases: 1) immediate dissolution, 2) first-order dissolution, and 3) first-order precipitation. We observed that the speciation of metal ions in the SELF influences the dissolution kinetics of each element. We also found that atmospheric aqueous phase processing in fog can influence the dissolution kinetics of the elements in SELF. Discussion. The speciation study showed that the SELF composition is the main driver of metal solubility and dissolution kinetics with only a minor influence of atmospheric fog processing. Therefore, metal bioavailability is mainly determined by the biological fluid composition.

EN24041  Accepted 16 December 2024

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