Atmospheric particulate matter from a region impacted by biomass burning: sources and toxicity

• Grant number: 18/17931-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): December 01, 2018
• Effective date (End): July 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Maria Lúcia Arruda de Moura Campos
• Grantee: Caroline Scaramboni
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Atmospheric Particulate Matter (PM) from biomass burning is often associated with respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, and even cancer. Among the organic compounds, Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) have received special attention due to their high toxicity. Retene, which is not included in the 16 priority PAHs list of US-EPA, had a potential adverse effect on human lung cells, causing DNA damage and cell death. In sugarcane producing regions, retene mean concentration was about 18 times higher than in the Amazon arc of deforestation. It is therefore a matter of concern that Ribeirão Preto region is still particularly affected by biomass burning, despite the gradual elimination of sugarcane leaves burning. The aim of this project is to evaluate Ribeirão Preto's PM toxicity using in vitro tests, in order to infer about the current impact of biomass burning on human health in the region. The genotoxic potential of this material and retene will be evaluated using HepG2 liver cells, a cell line that is still little explored in toxicity studies of PM from biomass burning. Aerosol sampling (1.0, 2.5 and 10 ¼m) will be carried out in dry and wet seasons, both in the city center and near a rural area, in order to identify vehicular and biomass burning sources, and considering meteorological conditions. Levoglucosan will be used as biomass burning marker, and all PM extracts will be analyzed by GC-MS. Although this work focuses on a sugarcane producing region of Brazil, the results obtained here can be contextualized in both, the national context - due to the still frequent deforestation in Brazil - and the global context, in view of global warming, and increasingly recurrent forest fires. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

CARVALHO, JONATAS S.; FERRAZ, GABRIEL M.; BETIM, HUGO L. I.; DO NASCIMENTO, RITA DE KASSIA S.; SCARAMBONI, CAROLINE; URBAN, ROBERTA C.. What Can We Learn about Improvements in Air Quality During the COVID-19 Pandemic? A Case Study in Four Cities Located in the Same State but with Different Emission Profiles. Journal of the Brazilian Chemical Society, v. N/A, p. 14-pg., 2023-07-07. (18/04820-6, 18/17931-0, 22/03087-9)

SCARAMBONI, CAROLINE; CAMPOS, MARIA LUCIA ARRUDA MOURA; DORTA, DANIEL JUNQUEIRA; OLIVEIRA, DANIELLE PALMA DE; MEDEIROS, SILVIA REGINA BATISTUZZO DE; GALVA, MARCOS FELIPE DE OLIVEIRA; DREIJ, KRISTIAN. Reactive oxygen species-dependent transient induction of genotoxicity by retene in human liver HepG2 cells. TOXICOLOGY IN VITRO, v. 91, p. 9-pg., 2023-06-14. (18/16554-9, 18/17931-0, 14/50945-4)