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Examining Toxicity of Urban Wildfire Ash In Vitro

Hana Almony Poster Presenter
University of California, Los Angeles
Sherman Oaks, CA 
USA
 
Tue, 6/2: 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM CDT
1670 
Ernest N. Morial New Orleans Convention Center 

Description

The surge of urban wildfires across Los Angeles County in early January 2025 released hazardous air pollutants and ash, raising environmental concerns and potential health risks associated with toxic particulate inhalation among workers in post-wildfire settings. To test the cytotoxicity of nanoparticles in wildfire ash, we designed an in vitro model to examine the inflammatory responses and cell death of human bronchial epithelial cells.

Co-Authors

E. Landskroner, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
C. Tsai, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
S. Nagaraj, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA 

Acknowledgements & References

S. Baldwin, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
1 Chen, Y. H., Nguyen, D., Brindley, S., Ma, T., Xia, T., Brune, J., Brown, J. M. & Tsai, C. S. J. (2023). The dependence of particle size on cell toxicity for modern mining dust. Scientific Reports, 13(1), 5101.
2 Landskroner, E. A., & Tsai, C. S. (2025). Impact of ethanol as a vehicle for water-insoluble pollutants in BEAS-2B cell toxicity assays. Toxicology mechanisms and methods, 35(9), 1437–1449. https://doi.org/10.1080/15376516.2025.2540457
3 Panico, S. C., Santorufo, L., Memoli, V., Esposito, F., Santini, G., Di Natale, G., Trifuoggi, M., Barile, R., & Maisto, G. (2023). Evaluation of Soil Heavy Metal Contamination and Potential Human Health Risk inside Forests, Wildfire Forests and Urban Areas. Environments, 10(8), 146. https://doi.org/10.3390/environments10080146 

Keywords

Aerosol and airborne particulate monitoring
Exposure Assessment
Toxicology