Mutagens in urban air particulate.
Extracts of airborne particulate matter were demonstrated to be mutagenic in the Salmonella/microsome test. Urban airborne particulate was collected with high-volume samplers in an Italian town mainly polluted by traffic exhaust fumes. After being weighted for determination of total dust, the particulate was extracted with CH2Cl2/methanol and assayed by Salmonella/microsome assay on strains TA98, TA100 and TA98NR. All samples were mutagenic on strain TA98, with a mutagenic potency of 50 +/- 14 (-S9), 128 +/- 63 (+S9) and 104 +/- 51 (-S9), 211 +/- 97 (+S9) revertants/mg of particulate for summer (n = 23) and winter (n = 22) determinations, respectively. The mutagenic activity on strain TA98NR was about one-half that on strain TA98, indicating a large contribution of nitroaromatic mutagenic compounds. Mutagens from airborne particulate were less active on strain TA100. The summer and winter mean values of urban total dust were 0.15 +/- 0.07 and 0.35 +/- 0.18 mg/m3 respectively, and the mutagenicity of urban air on strain TA98 was 8 +/- 5 (-S9), 22 +/- 17 (+S9) and 30 +/- 11 (-S9), 61 +/- 21 (+S9) revertants/m3 in the two seasons, respectively. In winter, besides an increase in urban air mutagenicity, there also was a change in direct particulate activity per milligram, which was double that of summer.
Nardini
B
B
Institute of Occupational Health, University of Padova, Italy.
Clonfero
E
E
D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D004391:Dust; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D007558:Italy; D008862:Microsomes, Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D009152:Mutagenicity Tests; D009153:Mutagens / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D012486:Salmonella typhimurium / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D012621:Seasons
D000393:Air Pollutants; D004391:Dust; D009153:Mutagens