Grants and Fellowships | 2014

32 Pilot Research Grants Quantitative Evaluation of Organophosphate Pesticides and their Metabolites on Edible Crops Our hypothesis is that exposure to organophosphate (OP) pesticides based solelyondialkyl phosphates (DAPs) urinary concentrations might lead to overestimation of the actual exposure to the parent OP pesticides. DAPs are present on sprayed crops and thus the measurement of urinary DAP concentrations reflect both direct exposure to the pesticides and also exposure to the metabolites. The objective of this study is to quantify OPs and DAPs in edible crops. This will enable us to estimate exposure to OP pesticides that take into account both exposures to the parent compound and to their metabolites. Detection of the specific metabolites will serve as an indicator of the preformation of the metabolites on the crops. Data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shows that the produce most highly sprayed with OP pesticides is also highly consumed - apples, grapes, citrus fruits, tomatoes and cucumbers. Fresh samples will be analyzed. Benny Chefetz 1 | Tamar Berman 2 Julius Ben-Ari 1 Yehoshua Maor 1 Dana Boyd Barr 3 1. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem 2. Israel Ministry of Health 3. Emory University, USA 2013-2014 Lung-on-Chip Alveolar Models for Inhaled Particle Cytotoxicity in Alveolar Epithelial Cells The fate of environmentally- or occupationally-inhaled ultrafine particles (UFPs), with diameters less than 100 nm, is drawing considerable attention due to potential health threats that emanate from human-related industrial activities. UFPs are now known to bypass the lung’s defense mechanisms and penetrate across alveolar tissue, ultimately translocating into the systemic circulation. Epidemiological studies give evidence that high concentrations of UFPs, formed by gas-to-particle conversion and incomplete fuel combustion, may cause increased morbidity and mortality. Current nanotoxicology approaches to investigate inhaled UFP cytotoxicity in the lungs are still limited and often rely on UFP exposure over simple cell cultures. We are currently designing microfluidic lab-on-chip models of the alveolated airways of the lungs in an effort to develop an in vitro UFP exposure system of aerosol deposition on alveolar epithelial cells (AECs). Our efforts aim at designing novel approaches towards modern cytotoxicity assays of inhaled toxic UFPs that bypass animal models. Research publications (1) Hofemeier, P., Fishler, R., & Sznitman, J. (2014). The role of respiratory flow asynchrony on convective mixing in the pulmonary acinus. Fluid Dynamics Research, 46 , 041407. (2) Mahto, S.K., Charwat, V., Ertl, P., Rothen-Rutishauser, B., Rhee, S.W., & Sznitman, J. (2014). Microfluidic platforms for advanced risk assessments of nanomaterials. Nanotoxicology, 22 , 1-15. Advance online publication. doi:10.3109/17435390.2014.940402 (3) Mahto, S.K., Tenenbaum-Katan, J., Greenblum, A., Rothen-Rutishauser, B., & Sznitman, J. (2014). Microfluidic shear stress-regulated surfactant secretion in alveolar epithelial type II cells in vitro. American Journal of Physiology Lung Cellular and Molecular Biology, 306 , L672-L683. (4) Tenenbaum-Katan, J., Fishler, R., Rothen-Rutishauser, B., & Sznitman, J. (2015). Microfluidic in vitro platforms of pulmonary alveolar physiology. In IFMBE Proceedings 6th European Conference of the International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering, Vol. 45 , 777-780. Advance online publication. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-11128-5_193 Josué Sznitman 1 Barbara Rothen-Rutishauser 2 Peter Ertl 3 1. Technion - Israel Institute of Technology 2. University of Fribourg, Switzerland 3. Austrian Institute of Technology, Austria 2013-2014