Toxicity of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Involves NOX2 activation

Abstract Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) are environmental pollutants. The present study compares the toxic effects of BaP alone and a mixture of PAHs on human breast cancer cells. We hypothesize that PAH mixture is more toxic than BaP alone, and an increased NOX2 activation is related to PAH-induced oxidative stress. Initially, we exposed cultured human breast cancer cells to BaP alone (125 ng/mL and 500 ng/mL) and a mixture of PAHs (125 ng/mL and 500 ng/mL). After 24 hours of exposure, the PAH mixture demonstrated a significant (P