1982 Volume 17 Issue 4 Pages 295-303
Airborne particulates in urban Tokyo air were collected on the glass fiber filter paper by a high volume air sampler for 24 hours every day in January, April, July and October in 1980. Organic components in airborne particulates were extracted by the ultrasonic extraction method with benzene-ethanol (3: 1, v/v) as extracting solvent. Mutagenicities of these extracts were evaluated by the pre-incubation method using Salmonella typhimurium TA100 and TA98 strains with and without S-9mix. Polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH: benzo-(a) pyrene, benzo (ghi) perylene, benzo (k) fluoranthene and perylene) contents were determined for the airborne particulate samples in January and July by one-dimensional dual band thin-layer chromatography and spectrofluorometry.
The extracts showed positive mutagenic response for both strains with and without S-9mix. Mutagenic activities estimated as revertant colonies per 1 m3 air changed more than 10 times even in a month. The data of mutagenic activities showed logarithmic normal distributions. Geometrical means ofmutagenic activities in winter (Jan.) and autumn (Oct.) were higher than those in spring (Apr.) and summer (Jul.), and the values with S-9mix were lower than those without S-9mix. The daily variations of PAH contents (ng per m3 air) were similar to those of mutagenic activities. Good correlations were obtained between PAH contents and mutagenic activities on both strains with and without S-9mix conditions.
