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. 2020 Dec 1:408:115256.
doi: 10.1016/j.taap.2020.115256. Epub 2020 Sep 30.

Biological effects of inhaled hydraulic fracturing sand dust. VIII. Immunotoxicity

Stacey E Anderson  1 , Hillary Shane  2 , Carrie Long  2 , Antonella Marrocco  2 , Ewa Lukomska  2 , Jenny R Roberts  2 , Nikki Marshall  2 , Jeffrey S Fedan  2
Affiliations

Biological effects of inhaled hydraulic fracturing sand dust. VIII. Immunotoxicity

Stacey E Anderson et al. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. .

Abstract

Hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") is a process used to enhance retrieval of gas from subterranean natural gas-laden rock by fracturing it under pressure. Sand used to stabilize fissures and facilitate gas flow creates a potential occupational hazard from respirable fracking sand dust (FSD). As studies of the immunotoxicity of FSD are lacking, the effects of whole-body inhalation (6 h/d for 4 d) of a FSD, i.e., FSD 8, was investigated at 1, 7, and 27 d post-exposure in rats. Exposure to 10 mg/m3 FSD 8 resulted in decreased lung-associated lymph node (LLN) cellularity, total B-cells, CD4+ T-cells, CD8+ T-cells and total natural killer (NK) cells at 7-d post exposure. The frequency of CD4+ T-cells decreased while the frequency of B-cells increased (7 and 27 d) in the LLN. In contrast, increases in LLN cellularity and increases in total CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells were observed in rats following 30 mg/m3 FSD 8 at 1 d post-exposure. Increases in the frequency and number of CD4+ T-cells and NK cells were observed in bronchial alveolar lavage fluid at 7-d post-exposure (10 mg/m3) along with an increase in total CD4+ T-cells, CD11b + cells, and NK cells at 1-day post-exposure (30 mg/m3). Increases in the numbers of B-cells and CD8+ T-cells were observed in the spleen at 1-day post 30 mg/m3 FSD 8 exposure. In addition, NK cell activity was suppressed at 1 d (30 mg/m3) and 27 d post-exposure (10 mg/m3). No change in the IgM response to sheep red blood cells was observed. The findings indicate that FSD 8 caused alterations in cellularity, phenotypic subsets, and impairment of immune function.

Keywords: Fracking; Fracking sand dust; Immune phenotyping; Immunosuppression; Immunotoxicity.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Inhalation exposure to FSD 8 suppresses spleen NK cell activity. (FSD 8 is abbreviated as FSD in the figures.) NK cell activity in splenocytes was evaluated after exposure to 10 or 30 mg/m3 of FSD 8. NK cell percent killing is illustrated at 1 d (A, B), 7 d (C, D) and 27 d (E, F) post-exposure. n = 4 animals in each group. *P < 0.01 vs. air control at indicated effector:target ratio.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Inhalation exposure to 10 mg/m3 FSD 8 does not suppress the spleen IgM response to SRBC. The spleen IgM response to SRBC was evaluated after exposure to 10 mg/m3 of FSD 8. The IgM response to SRBC/106 splenocytes and IgM response to SRBC/spleen is illustrated at 1 d (A and B), 7 d (C and D) and 27 d (E and F) post exposure. n = 8 animals in each group.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
Inhalation exposure to 30 mg/m3 FSD 8 does not suppress the spleen IgM response to SRBC. The spleen IgM response to sheep red blood cells (SRBC) was evaluated after exposure to 30 mg/m3 of FSD 8. The IgM response to SRBC/106 splenocytes and IgM response to SRBC/spleen is illustrated at 1 day (A and B), 7 d (C and D) and 27 d (E and F) post-exposure. n = 8 animals in each group.
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