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Abstract: The AMS technique was applied to analyse black carbon (BC), total organic carbon (TOC), and previously reported polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in PM10 aerosols from a residential area, suburban Tokyo, to determine natural abundance of radiocarbon (14C), an ideal tracer to distinguish fossil fuel (14C-free) from modern biomass combustion sources of pyrolytic products. The 14C concentrations in BC, isolated using the CTO-375 method, were 42% and 30% pMC (in terms of percent Modern Carbon: pMC) in summer and winter, respectively. The 14C concentrations in BC were also compared with those of compound-class specific 14C content of PAHs previously reported for the same samples: they were 45% and 33% pMC in summer and winter, respectively. The 14C signals of BC were identical to those of high molecular weight (MW⩾226, 5–6 rings) PAHs. The resemblance between 14C signals of BC and PAHs can be referred as a ‘certificate’ for the validity of the BC isolation method employed in this study. Also, it suggests that 14C-BC approach can be a surrogate for PAHs specific 14C analyses to monitor seasonal source variation of combustion-derived pyrolytic products. On the other hand, 14C contents of total organic carbon in 2004 were 61% and 42% pMC in summer and winter, respectively. This is likely attributed to higher contribution of plant activity in summer. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A trivalent inorganic arsenic, arsenite, has been causing chronic inflammation in humans through the consumption of contaminated well water. The total peripheral blood arsenic concentrations of chronic arsenic-exposed patients, who had inflammatory-like immune responses, are less than 1 μM, thus, nM concentrations may be very important regarding the chronic inflammatory effects by arsenite. However, there are few reports about the biological effects of low concentrations of arsenite in mammalian cells, especially in normal immune effector cells. In this study, we examined whether arsenite has any biological and/or toxicological effects on the differentiation of human peripheral blood monocytes into macrophages using the colony-stimulating factor (CSF) in vitro compared with that of other metallic compounds, and found that arsenite sensitively inhibited the CSF-induced in vitro maturation of monocytes into macrophages at nM levels, and it also induced small, nonadhesive and CD14-positive abnormal macrophage generation from monocytes with granulocyte-macrophage CSF (GM-CSF) at 50–500 nM without cell death. The addition of other metallic compounds, including chromium, selenium, mercury, cadmium, nickel, copper, zinc, cobalt, manganese and other human pentavalent arsenic metabolites, such as inorganic arsenate, monomethylarsonic acid and dimethylarsinic acid, could not induce the same abnormal cell generation from monocytes with CSFs at any concentration and any additional time schedules; they showed only simple cytolethality in monocytes and macrophages at any concentration and any additional time schedules; they showed only simple cytolethality in monocytes and macrophages at n-mM levels accompanied by cell death. This work may have implications in the arsenic-induced chronic inflammation in humans. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A trivalent inorganic arsenic, arsenite, has been causing chronic inflammation in humans through the consumption of contaminated well water. The total peripheral blood arsenic concentrations of chronic arsenic-exposed patients, who had inflammatory-like immune responses, are less than 1 μM, thus, nM concentrations may be very important regarding the chronic inflammatory effects by arsenite. However, there are few reports about the biological effects of low concentrations of arsenite in mammalian cells, especially in normal immune effector cells. In this study, we examined whether arsenite has any biological and/or toxicological effects on the differentiation of human peripheral blood monocytes into macrophages using the colony-stimulating factor (CSF) in vitro compared with that of other metallic compounds, and found that arsenite sensitively inhibited the CSF-induced in vitro maturation of monocytes into macrophages at nM levels, and it also induced small, nonadhesive and CD14-positive abnormal macrophage generation from monocytes with granulocyte-macrophage CSF (GM-CSF) at 50–500 nM without cell death. The addition of other metallic compounds, including chromium, selenium, mercury, cadmium, nickel, copper, zinc, cobalt, manganese and other human pentavalent arsenic metabolites, such as inorganic arsenate, monomethylarsonic acid and dimethylarsinic acid, could not induce the same abnormal cell generation from monocytes with CSFs at any concentration and any additional time schedules; they showed only simple cytolethality in monocytes and macrophages at n-mM levels accompanied by cell death. This work may have implications in the arsenic-induced chronic inflammation in humans. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this study, we observed the in vivo acute immunotoxicity of a trimethyl arsenic compound, arsenobetaine (AsBe), which is present in large quantities in various marine animals that are daily ingested as seafood in many countries. The synthetic pure AsBe was orally administered to CDF1 mice at a dose of 1.625 g/kg mouse weight once a day on days −6, −4, −2 and 0 (four times, total 6.5 g/kg mouse weight), and its effect on the immune organs and immune effector cells were assessed until day 8. Orally administered AsBe was temporally distributed to the immune organs, such as the spleen and thymus, but was not very toxic both quantitatively and qualitatively on these immune organs and immune effector cells, splenocytes, thymocytes, Peyer''s patch lymphocytes and peritoneal macrophages. This finding suggests that the ingestion of AsBe contained in marine animals is relatively safe to the health of people who often consume marine animals in their daily diet. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]