4/11/2016 How do Dust Particles Affect the Human Lung?

Health Risk in the Air — Öffentlichkeitsarbeit und Beziehungsmanagement

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How do Dust Particles Affect the

Human Lung?Health Risk in the Air
It is well known that particles from ink cartridges, exhaust fumes, or
aerosol spray cans can be harmful to our health. But the actual extent of
the negative effect they have on the human body is poorly known. Thanks
to a new research approach, scientists at the University of Freiburg are
now conducting tests to determine the long­term consequences of such
airborne particles on our health.

(Foto: Universität Freiburg)

It is well known that particles from ink cartridges, exhaust fumes, or aerosol spray
cans can be harmful to our health. But the actual extent of the negative effect they
have on the human body is poorly known. Thanks to a new research approach,
scientists at the University of Freiburg are now conducting tests to determine the
long­term consequences of such airborne particles on our health.
On a bicycle we inhale exhaust from cars, in the office particles released from ink
cartridges, in the spring dust blown north from the Sahara, and in the bathroom
nanoparticles from hair spray:
Each day we breathe in millions of different particles. It is known that they can be
harmful to our health, but not enough research has been done to say with certainty
how dangerous they really are. Thanks to a new research approach by Prof. Dr. Reto
Gieré from the Department of Earth Sciences, it is now possible to determine what
long­term effects such airborne particles have on our health.

Step One: Determining What Dust Particles in Freiburg Are

Composed Of

Gieré and a team of scientists from mineralogy, environmental medicine, and

pharmacy as well as from the German Meteorological Service are systematically
characterizing individual dust particles that fly through the air everyday and
determining their mineralogical and chemical makeup with the help of microscopes
and x­ray devices. Only then will it be possible to identify the type of particles we
breathe in. “Our goal is to find out what the air we inhale in Freiburg and the Rhine
Valley is composed of,” explains Gieré, “also in order to determine where all of these

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4/11/2016 How do Dust Particles Affect the Human Lung?Health Risk in the Air — Öffentlichkeitsarbeit und Beziehungsmanagement
particles are blown in from.” On the basis of the mineralogical composition of the
particles it is possible to establish whether the dust particles are, for instance, from
automobile exhaust fumes, street dust, or smoke from coal­fired power plants. Even
the researchers are surprised about all of the occasions on which humans are exposed
to dust particles: “Christmas is the worst time of all: Burning candles in the living
room let off an unbelievably high amount of particulate matter.” But unlike soot from
Christmas candles, other harmful particles we breathe in have a long jour ney behind
them: Even dust from the Sahara reaches Freiburg, says Gieré.

Step Two: Researching Health Consequences

The team of researchers is not only interested in what the particles are composed of.
With the help of medical and pharmaceutical specialists they are also studying what
influence dust particles have on human health.“Astoundingly,” says the mineralogist,
“we know only little about their impact on our health.” But this question is becoming
more and more important, because people in industrialized countries produce and
release many different kinds of particles every day – and not just those working in
industry or construction: Even nanoparticles in our hair spray or deodorant can find
their way into our lungs. The mineralogical research project is focusing initially on
synthetic particles, because we have a certain amount of influence over the extent of
our exposure to man­made dust. In contrast, it is difficult to minimize the influence of
natural dust particles for the individual: Wearing a face mask while riding a bicycle or
staying at home when dust from the Sahara reaches Freiburg might be prudent
precautionary measures, but it is impossible to avoid the natural particles completely.
Gieré is thus also determined to research their impact on human health in the future.

Effects on the Human Lung

In order to determine to what extent the particles found in the Freiburg air are
detrimental to our health, the researchers are producing individual types of particles
in the laboratory in various sizes and concentrations and then exposing cultures from
the human lung to them one by one in test tubes. “We don’t want to expose the lung
cells to all kinds of particles at once, because we are trying to find out what effect
specific particles have on the human lung,” explains Gieré. Various tests show how the
lung cells react: Do the dust particles have an effect on the cells – or even on the
genes? The Freiburg researchers are using an electronmicroscope to ascertain
whether the particles have penetrated into the cell and where. The foreign matter can
reach the cytoplasm or the nucleus, and in the worst case they can cause damage in
the nucleus. When this happens, the lung automatically sends out antibodies to defend
the cells against the foreign matter. The scientists can then measure the signals
created during this process.
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The size of the dust particles is also an important factor: The differentiation between
Contact
coarse and fine particles has led to much controversy. Gieré criticizes that politicians
Newsroom
and the media often speak of fine particles without knowing how fine a particle
Surprising
actually has to be to earn this name. All dust particles larger than 2.5 micrometers are
Science
classified as coarse particles, whereas particles with a size of 2.5 micrometers or less
Umwelt
are characterized as fine particles. Those that are smaller than 100 nanometers, are
und
classified as nanoparticles or as ultrafine particles. The smaller a particle is, the more
Klima
abundant it is generally. Moreover, fine particles float around in the atmosphere
Press Service | longer than coarse particles. Only when it rains is the air washed free of fine particles.
Staff Service | But it is not only due to their persistence that the smaller particles constitute a greater
Guest Service danger for human health, but also their size: Dust particles that are smaller than 2.5
micrometers can accumulate in the alveoli in our lungs – and once they make it there,
we can’t get them back out of our bodies. Coarse particles, on the other hand, can’t
make it that far into our respiratory tract because they irritate our throats, inducing us
to cough them out.

Particles from Black Ink Cartridges are Genotoxic

Gieré’s team has already published the first sobering results: Theirin vitro tests
demonstrated that particles from black ink cartridges cause changes in the cell
nucleus and thus have a genotoxic, i.e., gene­changing, effect on the human lung. The
mineralogists will still need to conduct many experiments to analyze all of the effects

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4/11/2016 How do Dust Particles Affect the Human Lung?Health Risk in the Air — Öffentlichkeitsarbeit und Beziehungsmanagement
of the various types of dust. In order to be successful, these experiments must
transcend the boundaries of traditional scientific disciplines, and Freiburg provides
ideal conditions for this multidisciplinary research. By no means does Gieré want to
spread panic,but he maintains that “it is important to point out concrete dangers,
because only so can we react to them.

Portrait of the researcher

Prof. Dr. Reto Gieré

Reto Gieré has worked at the Section for Mineralogy­

Geochemistry at the Department of Earth Sciences
since 2004. Other stations of his career include Purdue
University in Indiana, the University of Basel, the
University of British Columbia in Vancouver, and the
Carnegie Institution of Washington. In addition to his
teaching and research activity, he is a fellow at the
Geological Society of London and the Mineralogical
Society of America

Gallery

The image of a clay mineral from a scanning
electron microscope: These natural
components of carbon deposits get released
into the air during mining processes. (Foto:
Zentrum für Mikroskopie der Universität
Basel) bit.ly/sAOvpA
Parts of industrial exhauste fumes condense as
small particles, that get blown away by the wind
and deposite in the avolea of our lungs. (Foto:
Universität Freiburg)

Satellite picture of a sand storm that
transports large amounts of desertic dust from
the Sahara to Europe. Similar wind
movements can lead to the deposition of
sarah dust in Freiburg. (Foto: NASA, Visible
Earth)
Light microscope image of a aerosol dust sample
that was collected during five days along a street.
A microscopic analysis kann differentiate
particles by their optic qualities. This way it is
possible to find the origin of these particles.
(Foto: V. Dietze, Deutscher Wetterdienst,

https://www.pr.uni­freiburg.de/pm/surprisingscience/UmweltGesundheit/gesundheitsfeinde­in­der­luft/gesundheitsfeinde­in­der­luft­en?set_language=en 3/4
4/11/2016 How do Dust Particles Affect the Human Lung?Health Risk in the Air — Öffentlichkeitsarbeit und Beziehungsmanagement
Freiburg) bit.ly/ryMUug

The image of a clay mineral from a scanning

electron microscope: These natural
components of carbon deposits get released
into the air during mining processes. (Foto:
Zentrum für Mikroskopie der Universität
Basel) bit.ly/sAOvpA

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