Studies of the mutagenic response of Salmonella typhimurium TA98 to size-fractionated air particles: comparison of the fluctuation and plate incorporation tests.

The high-volume Andersen sampler was used to study the mutagenic activity of size-fractionated airborne particles from ambient air in Morgantown, West Virginia. Mutagenicity was studied by the Ames Salmonella assay and the bacterial fluctuation test and was dependent on particle size in both systems, ie, the greatest activity was associated with the smallest particles. Comparison of the two systems was based on identical aliquots of each extract, cells prepared under identical conditions at the same time, and on mutagenic response at a predetermined level of statistical significance (P less than 0.05). The results suggest a slight advantage in sensitivity for the Ames test for the air samples under study.