Organic respirable particulate

Multivariate source. apportionment models have been developed for two fractions of respirable particulate organic matter which together constitute about 90% of the total organic solvent-extractable mass. The independent variables used for developing the models were trace metals, water-soluble sulfate and meteorological variables. Two of the three POM fractions extracted sequentially with cyclohexane (CYC), dlchloromethane (DCM) and acetone (ACE) were used as individual dependent variables. 

Particulates are another source of respiratory irritation when inhaled. In urban environments, diesel exhaust particles and fly ash residue from power plant oil combustion are the main contributors of respirable particulates of less than 10 pm diameter (PM 10). These contain mixtures of lipo-philes and hydrophiles including various metals, acid salts, aliphatic hydrocarbons, PAHs, quinones, nitroaromatic hydrocarbons, andaldehydes. 151 Diesel combustion particulates contain large surface areas that can adsorb large quantities of organic compounds and deliver these to respiratory tract tissue. Other inhaled particulates can adhere to lung surfaces and adsorb and bond other vapors that are inhaled, thereby increasing their toxicities. PM2.5 particulates (those with diameters of less than 2.5 pm) that reach the lower respiratory tract as far as the alveoli are more toxic than PM 10 particulates of the same composition. 16 ... 

Only 1.2% of the carbon of 2,4-D added to stream water was converted to organic particulate matter, the solids fraction in water containing the microbial cells. This lack of significant carbon assimilation may be a result of the inability of the microorganisms to obtain carbon and energy for biosynthetic purposes at these low concentrations, the immediate use of the carbon for respiration in order for the cells to maintain their viability (i. e., for maintenance energy), or the rapid decomposition and mineralization of the cells and their constituents. 

The average ambient concentrations of the cyclohexane-, di-chloromethane- and acetone-soluble organic fractions from January, 1978 to August, 1979 were 2.9 yg/m, 1.0 yg/m and 4.4 yg/m. Respirable suspended particulate matter averaged 30.3 yg/m. ... 

Until the early to mid-1980s, research on the mutagenicity of respirable POM focused almost exclusively on the particulate phase. Another aspect of tropospheric chemistry with significant health implications is the application of the Ames bacterial assay (with or without the microsuspension modification) to the detection and identification of mutagenic vapor-phase PAHs and PACs. For example, Harger and co-workers (1992) reported that the mutagenicities of concurrently collected samples of vapor-phase and particle-phase organics in southern California (Claremont, California) ambient air were comparable. 

Stelzer, R. S., Heffeman, J. Likens, G. E. (2003). The influence of dissolved nutrients and particulate organic matter quality on microbial respiration and biomass in a forest stream. Freshwater Biology, 48, 1925-37. 

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