Evaluation of mutagenicity testing of extracts from processed oil shale. Water quality series report

Technical Report · Thu May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1980

OSTI ID:6642331

Dickson, J G; Adams, V D

The evaluation of the carcinogenic potential of processed oil shale extracts was carried out by the use of the Ames/Salmonella mutagenicity assay. Four types of spent oil shale were used to obtain samples for testing and the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) contained in the shale extracts are known to give about 90% detection rate by the Ames test. Solvent extraction of the shale with organic solvents gave extracts which were found to contain mutagenically-active fractions. The choice of solvents was shown to have a great effect on the magnitude of the mutagenic response and may also generate a co-mutagenic effect. The Ames test failed to identify mutagens in the aqueous leachates from the spent oil shale. One of the major problems of the Ames test was that the dose response curves of one-to-one mixture of two mutagens were nonadditive. Benzo(a)pyrene, a strong mutagenic PAH, was found to mask the mutagenic response of other mutagens. The complex mixture of PAHs in processed oil shale may exhibit high mutagenicity due to possible co-mutagenesis. Further biological testing is necessary to establish the environmental impact of natural leaching of oil shale waste and the reliability of the Ames test.

• Research Organization: Utah State Univ., Logan (USA). Utah Water Research Lab.
• OSTI ID: 6642331
• Report Number(s): PB-80-203458
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

04 OIL SHALES AND TAR SANDS
041000 -- Oil Shales & Tar Sands-- Environmental Aspects
550700 -- Microbiology
560302* -- Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology-- Microorganisms-- (-1987)
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
AROMATICS
BACTERIA
BENZOPYRENE
BIOASSAY
BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS
BIOLOGY
BITUMINOUS MATERIALS
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
CONDENSED AROMATICS
CYTOLOGY
ENERGY SOURCES
EVALUATION
EXTRACTION
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
HYDROCARBONS
MATERIALS
MICROORGANISMS
MINERAL OILS
MUTAGEN SCREENING
OIL SHALES
OILS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OTHER ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
POLLUTION
POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
SALMONELLA
SCREENING
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SHALE OIL
SOLVENT EXTRACTION
TOXICITY
WATER POLLUTION