engleski

Toxic effects of polybrominated diphenyl ethers on cultured human lung and neuronal cells

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are flame retardants that have been widely used on a daily basis in many consumer products, such as plastics, textiles, furniture and electronic devices. They are globally ubiquitous in all abiotic compartments (air, soil, water) and also in animals and humans due to their persistency and ability to bioaccumulate in lipid rich matrices. Despite measures taken to reduce further PBDE contamination, humans are exposed daily via food consumption, ingestion of indoor dust and inhalation of contaminated air and particle-bound PBDEs. Children are the most exposed population group due to extensive contact with dusty surfaces as well as hand-to-mouth behavior. Studies have revealed that exposure to these chemicals is associated with disruption of thyroid hormone and estrogen homeostasis, developmental and reproductive toxicity, neurotoxicity and carcinogenicity. The primary concern is health risk due to long-term and multi pathway exposure to PBDEs, particularly for children. Due to this fact, we monitored the viability of human adherent alveolar basal epithelial and neuronal cells exposed to selected PBDEs (concentration range from 375 ng/mL – 12 µg/mL) for 24 hours. Several of the tested PBDEs significantly induced cytotoxicity at higher concentrations. Interestingly, lung cells were more sensitive to the tested compounds than neuronal cells. Furthermore, BDE-99 congener was the most toxic with an IC50 value of 8.96 ± 1.06 µg/mL. Although this concentration belongs to the higher end of the range expected in exposure studies for the general population, the exact mechanism of the observed effects should be investigated in future research.

A549 ; cytotoxicity ; human exposure ; PBDEs ; SH-SY5Y

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