Miousse, Isabelle RacineHale, Rachel B.Alsbrook, ScottBoysen, GunnarBroadnax, TanyaMurry, CarleishaWilliams, CandacePark, Chul HyunRichards, RobertReedy, JustinChalbot, Marie-CécileKavouras, Ilias G.Koturbash, Igor2025-04-012025-04-012023-11-22Miousse, Isabelle Racine, Rachel B. Hale, Scott Alsbrook, Gunnar Boysen, Tanya Broadnax, Carleisha Murry, Candace Williams, et al. "Climate Change and New Challenges for Rural Communities: Particulate Matter Matters." Sustainability 15, no. 23 (January 2023): 16192. https://doi.org/10.3390/su152316192.https://doi.org/10.3390/su152316192http://hdl.handle.net/11603/37841Climate change presents multiple challenges to rural communities. Here, we investigated the toxicological potential of the six types of particulate matter most common to rural Arkansas: soil, road, and agricultural dusts, pollen, traffic exhaust, and particles from biomass burning in human small airway epithelial cells (SAECs). Biomass burning and agricultural dust demonstrated the most potent toxicological responses, exhibited as significant (p < 0.05) up-regulation of HMOX1 (oxidative stress) and TNFα (inflammatory response) genes as well as epigenetic alterations (altered expression of DNA methyltransferases DNMT1, DNMT3A, and DNMT3B, enzymatic activity, and DNA methylation of alpha satellite elements) that were evident at both 24 h and 72 h of exposure. We further demonstrate evidence of aridification in the state of Arkansas and the presence of winds capable of transporting agricultural dust- and biomass burning-associated particles far beyond their origination. Partnerships in the form of citizen science projects may provide important solutions to prevent and mitigate the negative effects of the rapidly evolving climate and improve the well-being of rural communities. Furthermore, the identification of the most toxic types of particulate matter could inform local policies related to agriculture, biomass burning, and dust control.14 pagesen-USAttribution 4.0 International CC BY 4.0 Deedhttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/rural communitieswildfiresDNA methylationclimate changeparticulate mattercitizen sciencegeographic information systemsinhalational toxicologyagricultureText