查看文章

Fine particulate matter originating from traffic correlates with increased morbidity and mortality. An important source of traffic particles is brake wear of cars which contributes up to 20% of the total traffic emissions. The aim of this study was to evaluate potential toxicological effects of human epithelial lung cells exposed to freshly generated brake wear particles.

An exposure box was mounted around a car's braking system. Lung cells cultured at the air-liquid interface were then exposed to particles emitted from two typical braking behaviours („full stop“ and „normal deceleration“). The particle size distribution as well as the brake emission components like metals and carbons was measured on-line, and the particles deposited on grids for transmission electron microscopy were counted. The tight junction arrangement was observed by …