Diesel Exhaust

This report describes a study by Dr. Maher and colleagues to investigate the biological effects of nitropyrene compounds, found in diesel emission particulate, on diploid human fibroblasts in culture in order to better evaluate potential health effects. Diploid human fibroblasts from normal individuals and individuals with a genetic predisposition to cancer were studied and compared through a series of experiments.

Dr. Yu's project addressed several important issues regarding improved quantification of dose from known concentrations of atmospheric particulate matter. By focusing first on a specific category of automotive-derived particles, diesel exhaust particulate, Dr. Yu was able to characterize those aerosol properties (such as the mass medican aerodynamic diameter and size distribution) that influence regional deposition. After formulating a mathematical deposition model, Dr.

Research Report 7 describes a study that attempted to produce monoclonal antibodies to DNA adducts of nitropyrene that could be used to study the mechanism of nitropyrene-induced carcinogenesis or develop analytical techniques for monitoring exposed populations. Dr. Groopman immunized mice against nitropolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons conjugated with a carrier protein to study the progression of immune response. Dr. Groopman injected four antigens into groups of BALB/c, AJ, and NZB mice. Two of the antigens failed to produce any immune response.

Nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are common environmental contaminants that often contain genotoxic activity. Dinitropyrenes are a class of PAHs that are associated with diesel exhaust. In this study, Dr. Beland and colleagues at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences sought to determine what factors contribute to the extreme genotoxicity of dinitropyrenes in bacteria and to establish if the same factors were important for the genotoxicity of dinitropyrenes in mammalian systems.