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Mutagens in automobile exhaust

Journal Article · · Fed. Proc., Fed. Am. Soc. Exp. Biol.; (United States)
OSTI ID:5963714
Particulate matter in city air contains chemicals which are mutagenic in the Ames Salmonella typhimurium assay. In residential urban areas, the principal mutagen(s) in air do not require liver enzymes to be activated. The source of these direct-acting mutagens may be automobile exhaust because (1) the mutagenic activities were correlated to the lead content of air (r = 0.89, N = 28) (2) the mutagens were in tailpipe exhaust of five 1972 Chevelles and from an experimental gasoline engine and (3) these mutagens were not in fuel or unused motor oil, but were in used motor oil (200 TA98 net revertants/0.1 ml). The direct-acting mutagens were most active in TA98. This strain specificity, plus the known fact that polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are labile to electrophilic substitution, suggested that nitro-substituted PAH are likely candidates to be the direct-acting mutagens in automobile exhaust. To test this hypothesis, 6-nitrobenzo(a)pyrene (BaP), synthesized by N. Kado, was assayed and found to be a potent direct-acting mutagen (6-NO/sub 2/BaP - S9: 68 TA98 net rev/nmol, 59 TA100 net rev/nmol, BaP + S9: 23 TA98 net rev/nmol, 44 TA100- net rev/nmol, linear dose-response relationships up to 1000 rev/plate).
Research Organization:
Univ. of California, Berkeley
OSTI ID:
5963714
Journal Information:
Fed. Proc., Fed. Am. Soc. Exp. Biol.; (United States), Journal Name: Fed. Proc., Fed. Am. Soc. Exp. Biol.; (United States) Vol. 37:3; ISSN FEPRA
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English