Production of hydroxyl radicals from Fe-containing fine particles in Guangzhou, China

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) production from ambient fine particles has been correlated with the soluble transition metal content of PM2.5, which also has clear association with particle-mediated cardiopulmonary toxicity. Hydroxyl radical (OH) is the most harmful ROS species through chemical reactions of redox-active particle components. Atmospheric Fe, as the dominant species of the transition metals in the atmosphere, is associated with OH generation in ambient particle extracts. Our results revealed that Fe-containing particles (18,730 in total number) contributed approximately 3.7% on average to all detected particles throughout the summer and winter sampling period in Guangzhou, which was clustered into four distinct particle classes, including Fe-rich, Metal-rich, NaK-rich and Dust-rich. Fe-rich class was the dominant one with a fraction of 61%, followed by Dust-rich (14%), Metal-rich (13%). and NaK-rich (12%). The iron oxide was enriched in the Fe-rich class. OH generation induced by Fe-containing fine particles collected in Guangzhou (GZ) was quantified in a surrogate lung fluid (SLF), and it was found that Fe-containing fine particles were generally much reactive in generating OH in the presence of four antioxidants (200 μM ascorbate, 300 μM citrate, 100 μM reduced l-glutathione, and 100 μM uric acid). The annual average OH amount produced in our samples was 132.98 ± 27.43 nmol OH mg−1 PM2.5. OH production had a clear seasonal pattern with higher amount in summer and lower in winter. By measuring the amount of total and SLF-soluble metal in our PM2.5 samples using ICP-MS, we found that ROS activities were associated with the ionizable Fe through Fenton type reactions in the Guangzhou PM2.5. Expected burdens of PM2.5 derived OH in human lung lining fluid suggests that typical daily particulate matter exposure in Guangzhou is already a concern, and it could produce much higher levels of OH, leading to higher cytotoxicity.