Inflammation is considered as a key event in adverse health effects associated with
exposure to ambient particulate matter. The inflammatory potential of particles is often
compared using in vitro cell systems, where the particle-induced release of pro-inflammatory
cytokines is measured. A major concern in these assays is the potential of particles to bind
cytokines, which may lead to an underestimation of the inflammatory potential. We therefore
investigated the cytokine binding to a selection of particle samples, including particles …