Demonstration of a powerful mutagenic dinitropyrene in airborne particulate matter.

Of the many nitroarenes, dinitropyrenes (DNPs) have the potential to revert Salmonella typhimurium his- mutants. This study was conducted to investigate the potential mutagens present in airborne particulate matter collected in Santiago, Chile. 5 organic substances extracted with dichloromethane showed mutagenic rates of from 38.9 to 287 revertants per m3 of air for S. typhimurium his- strain TA98 without S9 mix. 4 of the samples had greatly reduced mutagenicity for strain TA98/1,8DNP6 but not for strain TA98NR. The 1-nitropyrene (1-NP) content accounted for 0.06-0.15 microgram per g of particulate, as determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), but the contribution of the compound to mutagenicity was less than 1% of the total activity. On the other hand, by using two columns in the HPLC, DNPs of 1,6- and 1,8-isomers were detected in the samples pooled after the determination of 1-NP, and the amount of the derivatives was about 0.2 microgram per g of particulate matter.