Project 7: Nanoscale Materials in the Environment and their Health

超级基金场址的修复会向环境中释放纳米级颗粒，以及有害的蒸汽。这些复杂的混合物和材料，特别是纳米技术工业生产的新兴材料对健康的影响还没有得到充分的了解。据推测，暴露于环境颗粒（例如空气中的颗粒物质）造成的不利健康影响至少部分是由于活性氧（ROS）的产生，但需要更多的数据来检验这一机制。该项目侧重于3个主要领域：(I)使用实验室燃烧系统制造含有溴化阻燃剂的材料热加工产生的有毒副产物的复杂混合物；（II）表征环境中纳米级材料的活性氧生成；（三）利用纳米技术来回答在早期纳米颗粒毒性研究中出现的问题。在第一个目标中，该项目将构建一个小型的实验室规模的系统来模拟含溴化阻燃剂材料的热加工；本提案中的其他项目将利用多溴联苯醚、溴化二恶英和呋喃的生物测定法对这一过程的气态和微粒副产物进行审查。在第二个目标中，我们将定量测量两种最重要的活性氧——羟基自由基（OH）和过氧化氢（H{2}O{2}）——它们是由纳米颗粒在无细胞的替代肺液中形成的，然后在细胞培养中形成。我们还将研究模拟的大气反应如何改变纳米颗粒形成的能力

Remediation of Superfund sites can release nanoscale particles into the environment, along with hazardous vapors. The health effects of these complex mixtures and materials, especially emerging materials produced by the nanotechnology industry, are not sufficiently well understood. It has been hypothesized that the adverse health effects due to exposure to environmental particles (e.g., airborne particulate matter) is, at least in part, due to generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), but more data are needed to test this mechanism. This project focuses on 3 main areas: (I) using a laboratory combustion system to create complex mixtures of toxic by-products emitted from thermal processing of materials that contain brominated flame retardants; (II) characterizing the generation of reactive oxygen species from nanoscale materials in the environment; and (III) making use of nanotechnology to answer questions that have arisen in earlier studies of nanoparticle toxicity. In the first aim, this project will construct a small, laboratory-scale system to simulate the thermal processing of materials containing brominated flame retardants; the gaseous and particulate by-products of this process will be examined by other projects in this proposal using bioassays for polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and brominated dioxins and furans. In the second aim we will quantitatively measure two of the most important ROS - hydroxyl radical (OH) and hydrogen peroxide (H{2}O{2}) - formed by nanoparticles in a cell-free surrogate lung fluid and, later, in cell cultures. We will also examine how simulated atmospheric reactions alter the ability of nanoparticles to form ROS. In the third aim of this project we will synthesize a range of novel, multi-functional nanoparticles in order to study several questions related to nanomaterial toxicity, in part in conjunction with other projects in the UC Davis Superfund Program.