Mimicking the human respiratory system: Online in vitro cell exposure for toxicity assessment of welding fume aerosol.

In assessing the biological impact of airborne particles in vitro, air-liquid interface (ALI) exposure chambers are increasingly preferred over classical submerged exposure techniques, albeit historically limited by their inability to deliver sufficient aerosolized dose. A novel ALI system, the Dosimetric Aerosol in Vitro Inhalation Device (DAVID), bioinspired by the human respiratory system, uses water-based condensation for highly efficient aerosol deposition to ALI cell culture. Here, welding fumes (well-studied and inherently toxic ultrafine particles) were used to assess the ability of DAVID to generate toxicological responses between differing welding conditions.