In vitro toxicity screening of colored smokes
conference paper
Data on the acute and/or long-term toxicity of colored smokes appear to be scarce and inconsistent. Therefore, the objective of this study is to obtain more insight on this matter.
For this purpose, existing platforms for in vitro toxicity screening are evaluated with respect to their applicability to determining the toxicity of colored smokes. The platforms chosen are CULTEX® using human lung cells (A549) or human keratinocytes (HaCat) in culture to study acute toxicity, and CULTEX® with an Ames module, using bacteria (Salmonella typhimurium), to study long-term adverse effects. The tested colored smokes are green, yellow and red.
Acute toxicity was determined as follows: the colored smoke grenade was ignited inside a ventilated bunker. Wells containing the lung cells and keratinocytes were placed in the vicinity of the grenade and were thus exposed to the colored smoke. Meanwhile the smoke was sampled in a gas sampling bag, the number of particles in the smoke was counted and the particle sizes were determined with an aerosol particle sizer.
Next, the exposed cells were cultured and various parameters that are indicative of cell toxicity were measured. Also, other wells with lung cells and keratinocytes were exposed to the contents of the gas sampling bag using the CULTEX® system. The composition of the smoke collected in
the gas sampling bag was determined using continuous two-dimensional gas chromatography combined with time-of-flight mass-spectrometry (GC*GC-Tof-MS).
Long-term toxicity was studied by exposing the bacteria in the CULTEX® Ames module to the contents of the gas sampling bag. Next, the bacteria were cultured on a medium which lacks an essential nutrient for these bacteria. Consequently, the bacteria cannot grow on this medium.
However, mutagenic compounds will enable the bacteria to produce the essential nutrient, and therefore they will grow on this medium. The results obtained so far will be presented.
This study is supported by The Netherlands’ Defence Materiel Organization
For this purpose, existing platforms for in vitro toxicity screening are evaluated with respect to their applicability to determining the toxicity of colored smokes. The platforms chosen are CULTEX® using human lung cells (A549) or human keratinocytes (HaCat) in culture to study acute toxicity, and CULTEX® with an Ames module, using bacteria (Salmonella typhimurium), to study long-term adverse effects. The tested colored smokes are green, yellow and red.
Acute toxicity was determined as follows: the colored smoke grenade was ignited inside a ventilated bunker. Wells containing the lung cells and keratinocytes were placed in the vicinity of the grenade and were thus exposed to the colored smoke. Meanwhile the smoke was sampled in a gas sampling bag, the number of particles in the smoke was counted and the particle sizes were determined with an aerosol particle sizer.
Next, the exposed cells were cultured and various parameters that are indicative of cell toxicity were measured. Also, other wells with lung cells and keratinocytes were exposed to the contents of the gas sampling bag using the CULTEX® system. The composition of the smoke collected in
the gas sampling bag was determined using continuous two-dimensional gas chromatography combined with time-of-flight mass-spectrometry (GC*GC-Tof-MS).
Long-term toxicity was studied by exposing the bacteria in the CULTEX® Ames module to the contents of the gas sampling bag. Next, the bacteria were cultured on a medium which lacks an essential nutrient for these bacteria. Consequently, the bacteria cannot grow on this medium.
However, mutagenic compounds will enable the bacteria to produce the essential nutrient, and therefore they will grow on this medium. The results obtained so far will be presented.
This study is supported by The Netherlands’ Defence Materiel Organization
TNO Identifier
273982
Publisher
SERDP / ESTCP
Source title
Partners in Environmental Technology Technical Symposium & Workshop. Meeting DoD's Environmental Challenges, Washington, DC, USA, 1-3 December 2009
Pages
Poster 94, G-27
Files
To receive the publication files, please send an e-mail request to TNO Repository.