Plot showing absence of correlation between soluble Cr levels in hand-washing samples and children’s age for both CCA and non-CCA playgrounds

<p><b>Copyright information:</b></p><p>Taken from "Chromium on the Hands of Children After Playing in Playgrounds Built from Chromated Copper Arsenate (CCA)–Treated Wood"</p><p>Environmental Health Perspectives 2005;114(3):460-465.</p><p>Published online 6 Oct 2005</p><p>PMCID:PMC1392243.</p><p>This is an Open Access article: verbatim copying and redistribution of this article are permitted in all media for any purpose, provided this notice is preserved along with the article's original DOI.</p> Results are for Cr levels (ng) as determined by ICP-MS analysis of the hand-washings of 63 children who played in eight CCA and 64 children who played in eight non-CCA playgrounds. Correlation coefficients are = 0.24 (CCA: = 104 + 611) and = 0.35 (non-CCA: = 86 + 241)

Real-Time Cell-Electronic Sensing of Coal Fly Ash Particulate Matter for Toxicity-Based Air Quality Monitoring

The development of a unique bioassay for cytotoxicity analysis of coal fly ash (CFA) particulate matter (PM) and its potential application for air quality monitoring is described. Using human cell lines, A549 and SK-MES-1, as live probes on microelectrode-embedded 96-well sensors, impedance changes over time are measured as cells are treated with varying concentrations (1 μg/mL–20 mg/mL) of CFA samples. A dose-dependent impedance change is determined for each CFA sample, from which an IC₅₀ histogram is obtained. The assay was successfully applied to examine CFA samples collected from three coal-fired power plants (CFPs) in China. The samples were separated into three size fractions: PM2.5 (<2.5 μm), PM10-2.5 (2.5 μm < <i>x</i> < 10 μm), and PM10 (>10 μm). Dynamic cell-response profiles and temporal IC₅₀ histograms of all samples show that CFA cytotoxicity depends on concentration, exposure time (0–60 h), and cell-type (SK-MES-1 > A549). The IC₅₀ values differentiate the cytotoxicity of CFA samples based on size fraction (PM2.5 ≈ PM10-2.5 ≫ PM10) and the sampling location (CFP2 > CFP1 ≈ CFP3). Differential cytotoxicity measurements of particulates in human cell lines using cell-electronic sensing provide a useful tool for toxicity-based air quality monitoring and risk assessment