Sources of Nitroaromatic Mutagens in Atmospheric Polycyclic Organic Matter
Open Access
- 1 September 1986
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of the Air Pollution Control Association
- Vol. 36 (9) , 1022-1025
- https://doi.org/10.1080/00022470.1986.10466141
Abstract
The distribution of mutagenic activity and nitroaromatic components of polycyclic organic matter (POM) in ambient air at industrial, urban, suburban, rural, and remote sites was studied using organic extracts from high volume aerosol samples. Direct-acting mutagens including 1-nitropyrene (1-NP), dinitropyrenes (DNP), and hydroxynitropyrenes (HNP) were measured by high performance liquid chromatography while the mutagenicity was determined in the Salmonella bioassay with strain TA-98. Benzo(a)pyrene (BaP), one of the possible precursors of nitroaromatic compounds in POM, was also measured. In comparing samples from a range of sites, TSP and the concentration of BaP per mass of particulate matter decreased, as expected, at greater distances from urban and industrial combustion sources. However, the concentrations of polar nitroaromatic POM compounds per mass of particles were higher at a remote site than in nonindustrial urban and suburban areas. The mutagenicity in particulate matter extracts from the remote area was predominantly (>90 percent) in the very polar fractions. There were also high atmospheric levels of nitroaromatic compounds and mutagenicity in heavily industrialized areas. These observations may reflect the influences of source emissions, atmospheric transformations of POM compounds, and ther atmospheric processes on the composition of ambient suspended particulate matter.This publication has 4 references indexed in Scilit:
- Evidence for the transformation of polycyclic organic matter in the atmosphereAtmospheric Environment (1967), 1986
- Contribution to bacterial mutagenicity from nitro-pah compounds in ambient aerosolsAtmospheric Environment (1967), 1985
- Mutagenic changes in dilute wood smoke as it ages and reacts with ozone and nitrogen dioxide. An outdoor chamber studyEnvironmental Science & Technology, 1984
- Nitro derivatives of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons in airborne and source particulate matterAtmospheric Environment (1967), 1982