Deposition of diesel exhaust particles from various fuels in a cast of human respiratory system under two breathing patterns

• We build the cast of human respiratory system (throat +0−5 generation).
• We examine diesel exhaust particles deposition in the cast of human respiratory tract.
• We took into account breathing patterns and fuels composition.
• Differences in DEP deposition due to fuels and breathing patterns can be observed.

Diesel exhaust particles (DEPs) are nanometric aggregates with organic compounds adsorbed on their surface. The compounds are often mutagenic and cytotoxic. Due to their small size DEPs may penetrate into the respiratory tract potentially causing health problems.The aim of this study was to determine the amount of DEPs deposited in the cast of human respiratory system under various breathing conditions. Silicone model of upper and lower airways was attached to artificial lung apparatus (ALA) to generate breathing flow similar to mechanism of mammalian lungs' work. The amount of DEPs deposited in the cast of human respiratory system was established gravimetrically. Deposition efficiency was determined for three types of commercially available diesel fuels under two different breathing pattern conditions.The results showed that the amount of compact DEPs deposited in the respiratory tract is higher than dendrite-like aggregates DEPs from fuel I and III. In addition, fraction of DEPs from fuel II that deposited in the lower airways is the lowest. However, the DEPs deposition is higher if the value of tidal volume and breaths per minute is high—regardless of kind of a fuel.Despite some assumptions – inevitable in case of in vitro research – results of our research showed a distribution of DEPs deposition in a cast of respiratory system, which is a key link between exposure on diesel exhaust fumes and the health effects.