TY  - JOUR
A1  - Wallraff, Jonas Peter
A1  - Ungeheuer, Florian
A1  - Dombrowski, Andrea
A1  - Oehlmann, Jörg
A1  - Vogel, Alexander L.
T1  - Occurrence and in vitro toxicity of organic compounds in urban background PM2.5
T2  - Science of The Total Environment
N2  - This study describes the chemical composition and in vitro toxicity of the organic fraction of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) at an urban background site, which receives emissions either from Frankfurt international airport or the city centre, respectively. We analysed the chemical composition of filter extracts (PM2.5) using ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography coupled to a high-resolution mass spectrometer, followed by a non-target analysis. In parallel, we applied the bulk of the filter extracts to a Microtox and acetylcholinesterase-inhibition assay for in vitro toxicity testing. We find that both the chemical composition and toxicity depend on the prevailing wind directions, and the airport operating condition, respectively. The occurrence of the airport marker compounds tricresyl phosphate and pentaerythritol esters depends on the time of the day, reflecting the night flight ban as well as an airport strike event during November 2019. We compared the organic aerosol composition and toxicity from the airport wind-sector against the city centre wind-sector. We find that urban background aerosol shows a higher baseline toxicity and acetylcholinesterase inhibition compared to rural PM2.5 that is advected over the airport. Our results indicate that the concentration and individual composition of PM2.5 influence the toxicity. Suspected drivers of the acetylcholinesterase inhibition are i.e. organophosphorus esters like triphenyl phosphate and cresyldiphenyl phosphate, and the non-ionic surfactant 4-tert-octylphenol ethoxylate. However, further research is necessary to unambiguously identify harmful organic air pollutants and their sources and quantify concentration levels at which adverse effects in humans and the environment can occur.
KW  - Non-target analysis
KW  - Baseline toxicity
KW  - Microtox
KW  - AChE inhibition
KW  - Particulate matter
KW  - Aerosol
Y1  - 2022
UR  - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/74994
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-749942
SN  - 0048-9697
SN  - 1879-1026
VL  - 817
IS  - 152779
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Amsterdam
ER  -