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Particulate matter (PM) is considered an atmospheric pollutant that mostly affects human health. The finest fractions of PM (PM 2.5 or less) play a major role in causing chronic diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate the genotoxic effects of PM 0.5 collected in five Italian towns using different bioassays. The role of chemical composition on the genotoxicity induced was also evaluated. The present study was included in the multicentre MAPEC&#95;LIFE project, which aimed to evaluate the associations between air pollution exposure and early biological effects in Italian children. PM 10 samples were collected in 2 seasons (winter and spring) using a high-volume multistage cascade impactor. The results showed that PM 0.5 represents a very high proportion of PM 10 (range 10-63%). PM 0.5 organic extracts were chemically analysed (PAH s , nitro-PAH s ) and tested by the comet assay (A549 and BEAS-2B cells), MN test (A549 cells) and Ames test on Salmonella strains (TA100, TA98, TA98NR and YG1021). The highest concentrations of PAHs and nitro-PAHs in PM 0.5 were observed in the Torino, Brescia and Pisa samples in winter. The Ames test showed low mutagenic activity. The highest net revertants/m 3 were observed in the Torino and Brescia samples (winter), and the mutagenic effect was associated with PM 0.5 (p < 0.01), PAH and nitro-PAH (p < 0.05) concentrations. The YG1021 strain showed the highest sensitivity to PM 0.5 samples. No genotoxic effect of PM 0.5 extracts was observed using A549 cells except for some samples in winter (comet assay), while BEAS-2B cells showed light DNA damage in the Torino, Brescia and Pisa samples in winter, highlighting the higher sensitivity of BEAS-2B cells, which was consistent with the Ames test (p < 0.01). The results obtained showed that it is important to further investigate the finest fractions of PM, which represent a relevant percentage of PM 10 , taking into account the chemical composition and the biological effects induced., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Air pollution in urban areas is a major concern as it negatively affects the health of a large number of people. The purpose of this study was to assess the inhalation health risk for exposure to PM 10 and benzene of the populations living in three Italian cities. Data regarding PM 10 and benzene daily measured by "traffic" stations and "background" stations in Torino, Perugia, and Lecce during 2014 and 2015 were compared to the limits indicated in the Directive 2008/50/EC. In addition, an inhalation risk analysis for exposure to benzene was performed for adults and children by applying the standard United States Environmental Protection Agency's (USEPA) methodology. The levels of PM 10 detected in Torino exceeded the legal limits in both years with an increased mean concentration >10 µg/m³ comparing with background station. Benzene concentrations never exceeded the legislative target value. The increased cancer risk (ICR) for children exposed to benzene was greater than 1 × 10 -6 only in the city of Torino, while for adults, the ICR was higher than 1 × 10 -6 in all the cities. The results suggest the need for emission reduction policies to preserve human health from continuous and long exposure to air pollutants. A revision of legal limits would also be recommended.