Fine Dust Inhaled Travels Beyond Lungs to Brain... KIST Quantifies Internal Movement for the First Time [Reading Science]

Detected in the Liver, Kidneys, and Brain Even After One Hour of Exposure at "Very Bad" Levels
Development of an Ultra-Sensitive Analysis Platform

A domestic research team has quantitatively confirmed that fine dust we inhale can spread beyond the lungs to the brain, liver, kidneys, and throughout the entire body. This marks the first case in which the internal movement routes and accumulation levels of fine dust, previously only estimated, have now been measured with actual numbers.

The Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) announced on May 10 that the research team led by Byungyong Yoo and Kwanho Lee of the Characterization & Data Center has developed a platform capable of precisely analyzing the internal movement routes of fine dust and the accumulation levels in each organ.

The process of analyzing the internal movement of radioactive carbon (¹⁴C) labeled fine dust. After exposing mice to fine dust labeled with radioactive carbon (¹⁴C), the amount of fine dust accumulated in each organ was measured by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) to analyze its distribution within the body. Provided by the research team

The research team combined fine dust labeled with radioactive carbon isotope (¹⁴C) and Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) to measure the fine dust introduced into the body at the nanogram (ng) level.

The experiment used fine dust at the "very bad" level according to the Korea Meteorological Administration's standards (PM10 around 150 ㎍/㎥). When the research team exposed animals to short-term exposure for one hour or repeated exposure for three hours daily over seven days, fine dust was detected at the highest concentration in the lungs, with some particles found to migrate to the liver, kidneys, and even the brain.

In particular, the group subjected to repeated exposure showed higher accumulation concentrations in organs, confirming the possibility that fine dust may gradually build up in the body depending on exposure time and frequency.

"Beyond the Respiratory System, Systemic Impact"...Expectations for Policy Use

The research team expects that this technology will strengthen the scientific basis for future fine dust risk assessments and for the development of environmental and public health policies. This is because it enables health impact evaluations that include the entire body, such as the brain, liver, and kidneys, rather than focusing solely on the respiratory system.

Comparison of Long-Term and Blood Distribution of Fine Dust. A comparison of the amount and concentration of fine dust accumulated in major organs such as the brain, lungs, liver, and kidneys, as well as in blood and serum, under conditions of short-term high-concentration exposure and long-term low-concentration exposure. A tendency for increased fine dust accumulation in organs was confirmed with repeated exposure. Provided by the research team

In particular, as it is now possible to secure quantitative indicators for analyzing the relationship between fine dust and brain diseases, the reliability and level of causal identification in related research is expected to improve. There is also the potential for this platform to be used in establishing protection standards for vulnerable groups such as pregnant women, the elderly, and individuals with respiratory or cardiovascular diseases.

The research team plans to expand the application of this analytical platform to research on various environmental hazardous substances, including microplastics.

Kwanho Lee, Ph.D. at KIST, said, "We have established a foundation that enables precise measurement of the distribution of fine dust in the body, even under conditions similar to actual living environments."

The results of this study were published in the latest issue of the international journal Environmental Science & Technology.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.