Do ferrous-minerals in Arctic circle coal fly-ash mediate respiratory toxicity in humans?

Svalbard is a Norwegian Archipelago located in the Arctic Circle that has a long history of coal-mining. The coal is used by the local power-station to provide electricity to the residential settlements, as well as being exported to countries, e.g. Norway and Germany. Bulk coal fly-ash (CFA) produced from the Longyearbyen Power-Station was collected by Dr Lisa Mol in 2014. Here we report the first geo-toxicological investigation of CFA derived from this Artic region. The bulk CFA (Figure 1a) from Svalbard was separated into inhalable particles (Figure 1b), as a means to test their oxidative capacity in the lung environment. Dry CFA was resuspended inside a rotating-drum fitted with a PM10-selective inlet head attached to an air-pump. The air-flow rates of 5, 10 and 20 litres per minute produced different sized (i.e. PM 1, 2.5, 10, respectively) particles for geo-toxicological analysis. Analysis of CFA physicochemical properties has been on-going (e.g. surface area, size, shape, number, metal chemistry) as they are known drivers of the oxidative capacity of particulate matter (PM). Knowledge of particle size informs on probable deposition sites within the lung, and thereby, estimation of toxic potential. For example, PM