Ultrafine particles (UFPs) are one of motorcycle exhaust emissions which can penetrate the lung alveoli and deposit in the kidney. This study was aimed to investigate mice kidney cell physical damage (deformation) due to motorcycle exhaust emission exposures. The motorcycle exhaust emissions were sucked from the muffler with the rate of 33 cm3/s and passed through an ultrafine particle filter system before introduced into the mice exposure chamber. The dose concentration of the exhaust emissions was varied by setting the injected time of the 20s, 40s, 60s, 80s, and 100s. The mice were exposed to the smoke in the chamber for 100 s twice a day. The impact of the ultrafine particles on the kidney was observed by identifying the histological image of the kidney cell deformation using a microscope. The exposure was conducted for 10 days. The kidney observations were carried out on day 11. The results showed that there was a significant linear correlation between the total concentration of ultrafine particles deposited in the kidneys and the physical damage percentages. The increased concentrations of ultrafine particles caused larger cell deformation to the kidneys.

The volcanic eruptions of Mt. Bromo and Mt. Raung in East Java, Indonesia, in 2015 perturbed volcanic materials and affected surface-layer air quality at surrounding locations. During the episodes, the volcanic ash from the eruptions influenced visibility, traffic accidents, flight schedules, and human health. In this research, the volcanic ash particles were collected and characterized by relying on the detail of physical observation. We performed an assessment of the volcanic ash elements to characterize the volcanic ash using two different methods which are aqua regia extracts followed by MP-AES and XRF laboratory test of bulk samples. The analysis results showed that the volcanic ash was mixed of many materials, such as Al, Si, P, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, and others. Fe, Si, Ca, and Al were found as the major elements, while the others were the trace elements Ba, Cr, Cu, Mn, P, Mn, Ni, Zn, Sb, Sr, and V with the minor concentrations. XRF analyses showed that Fe dominated the elements of the volcanic ash. The XRF analysis showed that Fe was at 35.40% in Bromo and 43.00% in Raung of the detected elements in bulk material. The results of aqua regia extracts analyzed by MP-AES were 1.80% and 1.70% of Fe element for Bromo and Raung volcanoes, respectively.

Exposure to particulate matter (PM) has been identified as being responsible for affecting human health. Their impacts on erythrocytes are still unclear, especially PMs emitted from motor vehicles. This study investigated the correlation between exposures to inflammatory agents of particulate matters (in terms of ultrafine particles, or PM0.1, and fine particles, or PM2.5) contained in gasoline engine car exhaust emissions and the deformation of mice erythrocytes. We used 65 male mice as experimental animals. The mice were exposed to the filtered and unfiltered PM0.1-PM2.5 for 100 seconds for as long as 8 consecutive days. The mice from each group were sacrificed on the 8th day of blood preparation. All blood samples were observed using a digital microscope (400x magnification) to calculate the amount of normal and deformed erythrocytes. The results showed that the increasing amount of PM0.1 and PM2.5 in the car smoke that was exposed to the mice caused the increasing of the erythrocyte deformation percentages. The erythrocyte deformation percentage was found linearly to the particle concentration. Laboratory of Air Quality and Astro Imaging, Physics Department, Brawijaya University, Jl. Veteran, 65145 Malang, Indonesia

Transflutrhin is a single isomer compound that is contained in mosquito repellent. The volatility of this chemical compound made it suited for applications that evaporate this active ingredient like space spray using one push mosquito repellent. As an aerosol, transfluthrin can trigger oxidative stress that causes cell damage. Cell damage can be identified microscopically or by analyzing the electrical characteristics of the cell. Cell damage due to the content of chemical compounds in the pollutants that enter the body will affect the electrical properties of the cell itself. One of the bio-electric variables in organ tissues that can be analyzed and used to determine the level of tissue damage is a change in the dielectric constant value of an organ. The measurement of the dielectric constant is done by using two conductor plates in which the dielectric material is inserted in the middle of the plates, and the capacitance value will be measured. The results show that a higher level of damage to the organ caused a lower dielectric constant value. This decrease was caused by the changes in the polarization properties of the damaged tissue. Factors that affected the polarization of material were large electric dipole moments and large numbers of healthy and damaged cells. Organ damage was determined based on the decrease in the value of dielectric constant. Histological studies revealed severe cell damages evidenced by the deformed cell compared to the unexposed mice. Type-A mosquito repellents with transfluthrin active ingredients of 25% caused 74% at lung cell damage, 71% of blood damage, 47% of kidney cell damage, and 40% of liver cell damage, with dielectric organ constants 0.65x105 to 2.62x105. In the mice exposed to type-B mosquito repellent (21.3% of transfluthrin), the damage levels were 72%, 72%, 49%, and 36%, respectively, for lung, blood, kidney, and liver cells. The dielectric constants were 0.91x105 to 2.62x105. Our studies indicate that mosquito repellent aerosol does initiate physical damage to the cells of mice. These histological studies must be taken into consideration by the use of mosquito repellent, particularly when investigating the long-term effect of the transfluthrin impact on health.

Motor vehicle emissions have been identified as a source of ultrafine particles, which have significant impacts on human health. Repeated and prolonged exposure to ultrafine particles may have a significant association with organ damage. Here, we evaluated the correlation between repeated exposure to ultrafine particles and organ damage in mice. Motorcycle emissions were injected into an exposure chamber with mice for a period of 20 seconds. This treatment was conducted over 10 days. The mice were sacrificed on the 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, and 10th days for organ preparations. Based on the results, motorcycle emission exposure caused organ damage in mice, with different severities depending on the organ. The highest damage was found for the lung, followed by the kidney, erythrocytes, and liver.