Alveolar macrophage reaction to PM of hazy day in vitro: Evaluation methods and mitochondrial screening to determine mechanisms of biological effect.

Hazy weather in China has recently become a major public health concern due to high levels of atmospheric fine particulate matter (PM) with a large amount of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs). In this study, the mass concentration of PAHs in hazy PM in urban Taiyuan city, China was determined and toxicities of different dosage of the hazy PM on rat alveolar macrophages (AMs) were examined. It was found that the hazy PM, bounded with many species of PAHs (CHR, BbF, BaP, BaA, and etc.

Effects of phenanthrene on seed germination and some physiological activities of wheat seedling.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are one of the highly persistent organic pollutants, and they are toxic to plants and other living organisms, including human beings. To analyze the response of higher plant to PAHs, we investigated the effects of phenanthrene (PHE) on seed germination and various physiological changes of wheat seedlings. Specifically, we investigated growth, chlorophyll content, lipid peroxidation (LPO), activities of antioxidant enzymes and H2O2 accumulation.