title: Tradescantia micronucleus test indicates genotoxic potential of traffic emissions in European cities.
abstract: Urban atmospheres contain complex mixtures of air pollutants including mutagenic and carcinogenic substances such as benzene, diesel soot, heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. In the frame of a European network for the assessment of air quality by the use of bioindicator plants, the Tradescantia micronucleus (Trad-MCN) test was applied to examine the genotoxicity of urban air pollution. Cuttings of Tradescantia clone #4430 were exposed to ambient air at 65 monitoring sites in 10 conurbations employing a standardised methodology. The tests revealed an elevated genotoxic potential mainly at those urban sites which were exposed to severe car traffic emissions. This bioassay proved to be a suitable tool to detect local 'hot spots' of mutagenic air pollution in urban areas. For its use in routine monitoring programmes, however, further standardisation of cultivation and exposure techniques is recommended in order to reduce the variability of results due to varying environmental conditions.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Landscape and Plant Ecology (320), University of Hohenheim, 70593 Stuttgart, Germany. aklumpp@uni-hohenheim.de
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Klumpp
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ansel
authors.forename: Gabriele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Klumpp
authors.forename: Vicent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Calatayud
authors.forename: Jean Pierre
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Garrec
authors.forename: Shang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Josep
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Peñuelas
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ribas
authors.forename: Helge
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ro-Poulsen
authors.forename: Stine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rasmussen
authors.forename: Maria José
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Sanz
authors.forename: Phillippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vergne
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*; D001681:Biological Assay / Q000379:methods; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D005060:Europe; D015162:Micronucleus Tests / Q000379:methods; D009153:Mutagens / Q000633:toxicity*; D034823:Tradescantia / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D014504:Urban Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001335:Vehicle Emissions / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D009153:Mutagens; D001335:Vehicle Emissions