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Biological Responses of Inhaling Gas and Particulate Matter from Biomass Burning on the Respiratory System of Rats
Thesis Abstract:
Trans-boundary air pollution from biomass burning like forest fire is a recurrent environmental problem in Southeast Asia. This raises inevitable issues of the impact of increasing air pollution on human health. Biomass burning releases large amount of particulates (solid carbon combustion particulates) and gases. Uncontrolled forest fire in Southeast Asia especially Indonesia and Malaysia has caused smoke pollution (haze). The haze episodes in Southeast Asia contributed to substantial health problem of the public in 1997 and early 1998. Exposure to gas and particulate air pollution resulted in adverse health effects, i.e., an increase in the morbidity and mortality due to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. However, the biological mechanisms responsible for this association are not clear.
This study was carried out to determine the effects of particulate matter and gases from biomass burning on the respiratory system using experimental animals in a laboratory simulation. Spraque-Dawley rats were used in this experiment. The experimental rats were exposed to the smoke from biomass burning for two hours per day for six days per week in a chamber and injected with 1 mg Keyhole Limpet hemocyanin (KLH) in 0.2 ml solution intravenously on days 0 and 8. Control animals were sham-injected with sterile deionized water and introduced into the chamber but not exposed to pollutants. Every two weeks, six rats from each group were sacrificed, and airway tissue, blood and serum were collected for hematological, histological, and immunological analysis. The histological parameters studied included the number of goblet cells, the mucous gland size, and the size of alveolus as examined under light microscope and by analysis of the mean average number and width of surface area.
Results of the air quality assessment showed that the concentration of particulate matter (PM10, PM2.5 and PM1) in the smoke was very high compared with the control. The averages of PM10, PM2.5 and PM1 in the smoke were 2,414.45±190.63 μg/m3, 379.46±20.01 μg/m3 and 201.30±18.95 μg/m3. The biomass burning also produced gas pollutants such as CO and NO2, H2S, O3, NH3 and SO2. However, only concentrations of CO and NH3 showed significant differences compared with the control. The histology study indicated that the number of goblet cells of treatment group increased during the study. The increase in the size of mucous gland and alveolar size was in accordance with the period of exposure period. Level of Immunoglobulin G (IgG) type from ELISA analysis showed significant difference between treatment and control groups. Exposure of biomass smoke also gave significant effect in the number of hematocrit value, WBC and alveolar macrophage number. The results suggest that exposure to gas and particulate matters from biomass burning would badly affect the respiratory system.