DELTA: Do repeated pulmonary exposures to aerosolized cosmetics alter redox status and lead to sensitization or adaptation?

Principal Investigator: Dr. Christa Watson-Wright, Assistant Professor, School of Public Health at Georgia State University.

Project objective: Nano-enabled products, which contain chemically modified metal nanoparticles, are raising concerns due to their potential impact on our health. This study examined the aerosols released by nano-enabled cosmetics that contain metals. Researchers wanted to understand how these aerosols can affect our lung cells. They specifically looked at oxidative stress, DNA damage, and a process called epithelial mesenchymal transitions (EMT) that can occur in our airway cells.

Project’s alignment with the Hoffman Program on Chemicals and Health mission: By identifying the potential harm caused by some aerosols, such as oxidative stress, DNA damage, and EMT, and raising awareness about their effects on respiratory health, the research contributes to reducing the risk of harmful exposures to consumers.

Some key takeaways:

• The researchers used a special system to collect the aerosols released by two different cosmetic products. They used computer models to estimate how much of these aerosols we might inhale, and they conducted various tests to measure oxidative stress, DNA damage, and specific markers related to EMT.
• Findings: The aerosols from the cosmetics contained very small particles that mainly deposited in the deeper parts of our lungs. After exposure, these aerosols caused increased oxidative stress, DNA damage, and specific changes in the markers related to EMT. These effects were more significant compared to the effects of the metal particles in their original form.
• Implications: Prolonged inhalation of certain nano-enabled products can lead to oxidative damage to our DNA, potentially resulting in changes in our lung cells that can affect our respiratory function. It is important to consider the potential health risks associated with using these products and inhaling their aerosols.

Products resulting from Hoffman Program on Chemicals and Health support: Kaitlin M Pearce, Imoh Okon, Christa Watson-Wright, Induction of Oxidative DNA Damage and Epithelial Mesenchymal Transitions in Small Airway Epithelial Cells Exposed to Cosmetic Aerosols, Toxicological Sciences, Volume 177, Issue 1, September 2020, Pages 248–262, https://doi.org/10.1093/toxsci/kfaa089