BREATHE

A Multidisciplinary Collaborative on Air Quality & Health Research

BREATHE Environmental Chamber Exposure System (ECES)

Air is inescapable. We need it to breathe, but unfortunately air can contain particles from pollution, environmental dusts, and smoke from fires. They all can cause negative health impacts, including chronic lung diseases such as asthma and COPD, or even accelerate neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Most studies on the impact of air quality are limited to statistical correlations between assumed exposures of populations to aerosol pollutants and epidemiologic measures of health outcomes. Few studies provide direct examination of the mechanisms of lung pathology from exposures.

Direct mechanistic studies are important in understanding the health impacts of exposure, as well as helping identify potential therapeutic strategies to prevent or treat the effects. Thus, we developed an experimental system to assess the health impacts of aerosol particles in lab animals, using an environmental chamber for controlled exposures to defined aerosols. For studies on exposures to smoke, we also developed a burn pit enclosure to burn defined materials and collect the smoke residues.

BREATHE stands for “Bridging Regional Ecologies, Aerosolized Toxins, and Health Effects” and the name summarizes the broad interdisciplinary collaborative gathered for these important studies.

Selected References

ECES System

  1. Peng, X., Madany, A.M., Jang, J.C., Valdez, J.M., Rivas, Z., Burr, A.C., Grinberg, Y.Y., Nordgren T.M., Nair, M.G., Cocker, D., Carson, M.J., and Lo, D.D., Continuous inhalation exposure to fungal allergen particulates induces lung inflammation while reducing basal expression of innate immune molecules in the brainstem. ASN Neuro, 10:1759091418782304, 2018. (PMID 30016877)
  2. Peng, X., Maltz, M., Botthoff, J., Aronson, E., Nordgren, T., Lo, D.D., and Cocker, D., Establishment and Characterization of a Multi-Purpose Large Animal Exposure Chamber for Investigating Health Effects. Review of Scientific Instruments, 90: 035115, 2019. (PMID 30927824)
  3. Yisrael K, Drover RW, Shapiro ML, Anguiano M, Kachour N, Li Q, Tran E, Cocker DR 3rd, Lo DD. Route of administration significantly affects particle deposition and cellular recruitment. PLoS One. 2023 Nov 27;18(11):e0289373. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0289373. PMID: 38011140; PMCID: PMC10681169.

Salton Sea Dust

  1. Maheshwari, S., Del Castillo, D., Lo, D., Health disparities, pulmonary health, and the Salton Sea. Chapter Six, in Crisis at the Salton Sea: Research Gaps and Opportunities. EarthArXiv preprint (https://eartharxiv.org/repository/view/2113/), 2021.
  2. Biddle, T.A., Li, Q., Maltz, M.R., Tandel, P.N., Chakraborty, R., Yisrael, K., Drover, R., Cocker, D.R., Lo, D.D., Salton Sea aerosol exposure in mice induces a pulmonary response distinct from allergic inflammation. Science of the Total Environment, 792:148450 (PMID: 34157526), 2021.
  3. Biddle, T., Chakraborty, R., Li, Q., Maltz, M., Gerrard, J., Lo, D.D., The drying Salton Sea and asthma: A “Natural” disaster California Agriculture, (doi.org/10.3733/ca.2022a0003) 2022.
  4. Biddle, T.A., Yisrael, K., Drover, R., Li, Q., Maltz, M.R., Topacio, T.M., Yu, J., Del Castillo, D., Gonzalez, D., Freund, H.M., Swenson, M.P., Shapiro, M.L., Botthoff, J.K., Aronson, E., Cocker, D.R., Lo, D.D., Aerosolized Aqueous Dust Extracts Collected Near a Drying Lake Trigger Acute Neutrophilic Pulmonary Inflammation Reminiscent of Microbial Innate Immune Ligands. Science of the Total Environment, (PMID: 36334668) DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.159882, 2022.
  5. Lo, D., Gress, J., Bhetraratana, M., Salton Sea Community Forum Meeting Synopsis. Prepared for the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA Region 9) and for the California Air Resources Board (CARB Contract Number 21RD014). September 2023. (https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/salton-sea-community-webinars)
  6. Maltz, M., Topacio, T., Lo, D.D., Zaza M., Freund, L., Botthoff, J, Swenson M., Cocker D., Biddle, T., Yisrael, Y., del Castillo, D., Drover, R., Aronson, E., Lung microbiomes’ variable responses to dust exposure in mouse models of asthma" mSphere Nov 25; 10(11):e0020925. doi: 10.1128/msphere.00209-25. Epub 2025 Oct 21. 2025
  7. Lo, D., and Sohini, K., Resorts to Ruins; Desolation at the Salton Sea. Longform 2025: An Anthology of Graphic Narratives | Imaginative Fiction for the New World | Dreamscapes, Dystopias & Thought Experiments in Short Stories. (Mitra, D., De, P., and Manna, A., eds.) Penguin Vintage Books, 15 July 2025
  8. Yisrael Gayle, K., et al., Evidence for aerosolized environmental bacterial endotoxin as an environmental health hazard. MS ID#: MEDRXIV/2025/337178 doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.10.02.25337178

Smoke Exposure

  1. Penuelas, V. Lo, D.D., Burn pit exposure in military personnel and the potential resulting lung and neurological pathologies. Frontiers in Environmental Health, section Air Quality and Health, 3:1364812, 2024. (doi: 10.3389/fenvh.2024.1364812)
  2. Penuelas, V.L., and Lo, D.D., From combustion to consequence: respiratory health concerns from primary and aged smoke at the Wildland-Urban Interface. Frontiers in Public Health – Environmental Health and Exposome. Front. Public Health 14:1763671. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2026.1763671, 2026.