Assessment of mutagenic activity of coastal sediments of Barcelona

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Abstract
Organic extracts isolated from coastal sediments off Barcelona were submitted to the Salmonella/microsomal mammalian mutagenicity test (strains TA 98, 100, and 1538). The results obtained were ambiguous and a lack of dose‐response correlation was observed. However, when the extracts were resolved in fractions of increasing polarity these showed a parallel increase in mutagenicity, although the most polar were toxic. This seems to indicate that interferences among components may occur and a chemical class fractionation is needed for a better assessment of the mutagenicity of these samples.Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (benzofluoranthenes, benzo[a]pyrene, and alkyl‐substituted benzo[a]anthracenes) identified in the intermediate fractions by HRGC‐MS, could account for the mutagenicity observed. However, in the polar fractions only biogenic components (e.g., linear and steroidal alcohols and ketones) and traces of toxic xenobiotics (e.g., nonylphenol derivatives) were identified. On these grounds, it is suggested that the mutagenicity of some unknown components could be enhanced by the concurrence of the cocarcinogenic lipids found.

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