Ultrafine particles (UFPs) from domestic wood stoves: genotoxicity in human lung carcinoma A549 cells

•Combustion of woody biomass in commercial stoves.•Chemical-physical characterization of UFPs (diameter <100 nm).•Genotoxicological evaluation in A549cell line.•Correlation between with UFP characteristics, combustion conditions and toxicity.

In this paper, results on the potential toxicity of ultrafine particles (UFPs d < 100 nm) emitted by the combustion of logwood and pellet (hardwood and softwood) are reported. The data were collected during the TOBICUP (TOxicity of BIomass COmbustion generated Ultrafine Particles) project, carried out by a team composed of interdisciplinary research groups. The genotoxic evaluation was performed on A549 cells (human lung carcinomacells) using UFPs whose chemical composition was assessed by a suite of analytical techniques. Comet assay and γ-H2AX evaluation show a significant DNA damage after 24 h treatment. The interpretation of the results is based on the correlation among toxicological results, chemical-physical properties of UFPs, and the type and efficiency conditions in residential pellet or logwood stoves.