Abstract
Mutagenicities and concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) of the dichloromethane extracts from airborne particulates, which were collected with a low flow rate cascade Impactor, were investigated. Particulates in indoor air from 10 volunteer homes in Tokyo and its suburbs were collected into 3 classes (≥10 μm, 2.5-10μm and ≤2.5μm) for 24hr, and it was repeated 3 times. Particulates in outdoor air around the homes were also collected in the same manner. The mutagenicity of the extract was measuered by a microsuspension method (high sensitive Ames method) using Salmonella typhimurium YG1024. As the results, (1) the mutagenicity without S9mix was higher than that with S9mix, (2) the extract from outdoor particulates had higher mutagenicity than that from indoor particulates, and (3) the mutagenicity was higher with smaller particulate size. The PAH concentration of the particulate also showed the same tendency as the last result “ (3) ”. More than 80-90% of PAH was contained in the extract from the smallest class (≤2.5μm) almost in every case. Correlations between mutagenicities and PAH concentrations were not always satisfactory, and pollutants in indoor air did not always coincide with those in outdoor air.
