Particle-induced oxidative damage of indoor PM10 from coal burning homes in the lung cancer area of Xuan Wei, China

The lung cancer mortality rate in the rural area of the Xuan Wei, Yunnan, is among the highest in China, especially in women. In this paper, the coal-burning indoor and corresponding outdoor PM10 samples were collected at the Hutou village, representing the case of high lung cancer rate, and the Xize village, representing the case of low lung cancer rate. Plasmid scission assay was used to investigate the bio-reactivity of the PM10. The inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was employed to investigate the trace element compositions of the PM10. The results showed that the oxidative damage caused by both indoor and outdoor PM10 at the Hutou village was obviously higher than that at the Xize village, with the indoor PM10 having higher oxidative damage than corresponding outdoors. Among all analyzed samples, the indoor night PM10 samples from the Hutou village have the highest oxidative capacity. The levels of total water-soluble elements had a higher level in the PM10 of the Hutou village than that of the Xize village. It is interesting that the levels of water-soluble As, Cd, Cs, Pb, Sb, Ti and Zn in PM10 had better positive correlation with DNA damage rates, implying that these elements in their water-soluble state should be one of the main factors responsible for the high oxidative capacity of PM10, thus possibly the higher lung cancer rates, at the Hutou village. (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd.