posted on 2021-11-18, 19:05authored byEmmanuel Van Acker, Maarten De Rijcke, Zixia Liu, Jana Asselman, Karel A.C. De Schamphelaere, Lynn Vanhaecke, Colin R. Janssen
Marine
phytoplankton influence the composition of sea spray aerosols
(SSAs) by releasing various compounds. The biogenic surfactant dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine
(DPPC) is known to accumulate in the sea surface microlayer, but its
aerosolization has never been confirmed. We conducted a 1 year SSA
sampling campaign at the Belgian coast and analyzed the SSA composition.
We quantified DPPC at a median and maximum air concentration of 7.1
and 33 pg m–3, respectively. This discovery may
be of great importance for the field linking ocean processes to human
health as DPPC is the major component of human lung surfactant and
is used as excipient in medical aerosol therapy. The natural airborne
exposure to DPPC seems too low to induce direct human health effects
but may facilitate the effects of other marine bioactive compounds.
By analyzing various environmental variables in relation to the DPPC
air concentration, using a generalized linear model, we established
that wave height is a key environmental predictor and that it has
an inverse relationship. We also demonstrated that DPPC content in
SSAs is positively correlated with enriched aerosolization of Mg2+ and Ca2+. In conclusion, our findings are not
only important from a human health perspective but they also advance
our understanding of the production and composition of SSAs.