Fig 1. Overview of the experimental design used to expose mice to PM.
Mice (10–15 animals per group) were divided into the following five groups: PBS, PM0.1, PM1, PM2.5, and PM10. Each group was further divided according to dose: either two or three doses of 1.75 mg/kg (35 μg/per mouse), 5 mg/kg (100 μg/per mouse) or 12.5 mg/kg (250 μg/per mouse) were administered. On days 0 and 7, the mice were exposed to 100 μL of the appropriate solution by intratracheal instillation under light anesthesia. The animals were sacrificed 3 days after the second treatment, and samples of blood, BALF and lung were collected.