Air-liquid interface exposure of A549 human lung cells to characterize the hazard potential of a gaseous bio-hybrid fuel blend

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 19; no. 6; p. e0300772
• Main Authors: Daniel, Jonas, Schönberger Alvarez, Ariel A, Te Heesen, Pia, Lehrheuer, Bastian, Pischinger, Stefan, Hollert, Henner, Roß-Nickoll, Martina, Du, Miaomiao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 24.06.2024; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: A549 Cells; Air cleanliness; Air Pollutants - toxicity; Air pollution; Alkanes; Biocompatibility; Biodiesel fuels; Biofuels; Biology and Life Sciences; Bottlenecks; Cell Survival - drug effects; Cytotoxicity; Earth Sciences; Emissions; Engineering and Technology; Experiments; Exposure limits; Fossil fuels; Fuels; Gas flow; Gases - toxicity; Gasoline; Humans; Humidity; Hydrocarbons; In vivo methods and tests; Ketones; Lung - cytology; Lung - drug effects; Lung - metabolism; Lungs; Medicine and Health Sciences; Occupational exposure; Occupational health; Organic compounds; Physical Sciences; Pollution dispersion; Sensors; Titanium; Toxicity; Transportation industry; VOCs; Volatile organic compounds; Volatile Organic Compounds - toxicity; United States > US; Germany
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0300772

Gaseous and semi-volatile organic compounds emitted by the transport sector contribute to air pollution and have adverse effects on human health. To reduce harmful effects to the environment as well as to humans, renewable and sustainable bio-hybrid fuels are explored and investigated in the cluster of excellence "The Fuel Science Center" at RWTH Aachen University. However, data on the effects of bio-hybrid fuels on human health is scarce, leaving a data gap regarding their hazard potential. To help close this data gap, this study investigates potential toxic effects of a Ketone-Ester-Alcohol-Alkane (KEAA) fuel blend on A549 human lung cells. Experiments were performed using a commercially available air-liquid interface exposure system which was optimized beforehand. Then, cells were exposed at the air-liquid interface to 50-2000 ppm C3.7 of gaseous KEAA for 1 h. After a 24 h recovery period in the incubator, cells treated with 500 ppm C3.7 KEAA showed significant lower metabolic activity and cells treated with 50, 250, 500 and 1000 ppm C3.7 KEAA showed significant higher cytotoxicity compared to controls. Our data support the international occupational exposure limits of the single KEAA constituents. This finding applies only to the exposure scenario tested in this study and is difficult to extrapolate to the complex in vivo situation.