Publication details

Aerosol oxidative potential and reactive species predicted with a chemical kinetics model (KM-OP)

Authors	MISHRA Ashmi LELIEVELD Steven KRUEGER Matteo CAMPBELL Steven J. SRIVASTAVA Deepchandra LANZAFAME Grazia Maria TOMAZ Sophie FAVEZ Olivier BONNAIRE Nicolas LUCARELLI Franco ALLEMAN Laurent Y. UZU Gaelle JAFFREZO Jean-Luc CHEN Gang I. GREEN David C. PRIESTMAN Max TREMPER Anja H. BARTH Alexandre KALBERER Markus BANDOWE Benjamin A. Musa LAMMEL Gerhard POESCHL Ulrich SHAHPOURY Pourya ALBINET Alexandre BERKEMEIER Thomas
Year of publication	2026
Type	Peer-reviewed scientific article
Magazine / Source	Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
MU Faculty or unit	Faculty of Science
Citation
web	https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/26/10605/2026/
Doi	https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-10605-2026
Keywords	SECONDARY ORGANIC AEROSOL; POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC-HYDROCARBONS; AIRBORNE PARTICULATE MATTER; AMBIENT PARTICLES EVIDENCE; HUMIC-LIKE SUBSTANCES; SURROGATE LUNG FLUID; HYDROXYL RADICALS; AIR-POLLUTION; SOURCE APPORTIONMENT; DITHIOTHREITOL DTT
Attached files	2592997.pdf
Description	Exposure to ambient air pollution is a major risk factor for human health yet, the physiological effects of particulate matter (PM) remain poorly understood. Oxidative stress due to excess formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is a leading hypothesis for the molecular mechanism behind the adverse health effects of PM. Thus, measurements of ROS production and antioxidant depletion are widely used to assess the oxidative potential (OP) of PM. Here we introduce a chemical kinetic model of oxidative potential (KM-OP) to elucidate and quantify the effects of PM on the production of ROS and the consumption of ascorbic acid (AA) and dithiothreitol (DTT). The chemical mechanism of the model is based on literature rate coefficients and a large compilation of laboratory data on the effects of transition metal ions, quinones, and organic aerosol (OA). We apply the model to field measurement data of PM composition and OP from three European cities (Grenoble, Paris, London), obtaining good correlations (R-2>0.75) and low model bias (<15%) for 4 out of 6 data sets. Previous studies found that PM may inflict damage to biomolecules in the lungs mainly via the production of hydroxyl ((OH)-O-center dot) radicals. The antioxidant-based OP assays investigated in this study show a good correlation with modeled (OH)-O-center dot production. We identify OA as the strongest contributor to antioxidant-based OP assays, with minor contributions from Cu and Fe ions. Cu dominates the production of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), but does not substantially affect (OH)-O-center dot production. Our model and results provide a basis for further investigation and comparison of different metrics of the potential toxicity of PM.