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Characterisation of airborne particles and associated organic components produced from incense burning

Chuang, Hsiao-Chi, Jones, Timothy Peter ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4466-1260, Chen, Yang, Bell, Jennifer, Wenger, John and Berube, Kelly Ann ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7471-7229 2011. Characterisation of airborne particles and associated organic components produced from incense burning. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry 401 (10) 10.1007/s00216-011-5209-7

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Abstract

Airborne particles generated from the burning of incense have been characterized in order to gain an insight into the possible implications for human respiratory health. Physical characterization performed using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) showed incense particulate smoke predominately consisted of soot particles with fine and ultrafine fractions in various aggregated forms. A range of organic compounds present in incense smoke have been identified using derivatisation reactions coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis. A total of 20 polar organic compounds were positively identified in the samples, including the biomass burning markers levoglucosan, mannosan, and galactosan, as well as a number of aromatic acids and hydroxyls. Formaldehyde and diethyl ketone were among 16 carbonyl compounds detected and predominantly associated with the gas phase, whereas 6 different quinones were also identified in the incense particulate smoke. The nano-structured incense soot particles intermixed with organics (e.g. formaldehyde and quinones) increased the particulate capacity to cause oxidative stress driven by reactive oxygen species (ROS), leading to DNA damage, inflammation and cancer development. When considering the worldwide prevalence of incense-burning and resulting high respiratory exposures, the oxygenated organics identified in this study have significant human health implications, especially for susceptible populations.

Item Type: Article
Date Type: Publication
Status: Published
Schools: Earth and Environmental Sciences
Biosciences
Subjects: Q Science > Q Science (General)
Additional Information: Special Issue 'Aerosol Analysis' with guest editor Ralf Zimmerman.
Publisher: Springer Verlag
ISSN: 1618-2642
Date of First Compliant Deposit: 30 March 2016
Last Modified: 09 May 2023 06:16
URI: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/9896

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