Physicochemical Characterization and Oxidative Potential of Iron-Containing Particles Emitted from Xuanwei Coal Combustion

Respiratory diseases have been proven to be directly related to air pollutants. Xuanwei, located in South China, has been known to have the highest mortality rate for lung cancer in China because of the air pollutants emitted through local coal combustion. However, the mechanism of lung cancer induced by air pollutants is not clear. Based on the fact that a large number of iron-bearing mineral particles was found in Xuanwei coal combustion particles, the iron-containing particles were hypothesized to play important roles in the pathogenesis of the high incidence rate of lung cancer in this area. In this study, raw coal samples were collected from a coal mine in the Xuanwei area. Size-resolved particles emitted from the raw coal samples were collected using an Anderson high-volume sampler. Mineralogical characterization and an assessment of the oxidative potential of the iron-containing particles were conducted using cutting-edge technologies, and the biological activity of the particles were evaluated via DTT assay. Our data showed that the iron-containing minerals accounted for more than 10% of the measured particles emitted from Xuanwei coal combustion samples. The content analysis of ·OH generated from Xuanwei coal combustion particles showed that ·OH content was dependent on the size of particles in the surrogated lung fluid. The concentration of ·OH increased as the particle size decreased. The DTT assay data further demonstrated that when the mass concentration of dissolved irons increased, the oxidation potential of the particles increased. The highest proportion of divalent iron in the total dissolved iron was found in the submicron particles in low pH solution(pH = 1), which indicated that the oxidative potential induced by submicron particles was stronger than that induced by coarse particles and fine particles. Armed with the above data, the toxicological mechanism of the iron-containing mineral particles can be investigated further.