[Carcinogenic polycyclic aromatics and metabolities as possible components of emissions (author's transl)].

In the last five years investigations of environmental samples by high resolution-low voltage mass spectrometry succeeded in better separations of aromatic compounds than with any other method before. In light fuel oil, in dusts from a highway and from towns and in the emissions of an oiloven for households namely at least 200 and up to 500 cyclic and polycyclic aromatic types of compounds of different molecular formulas were detected. From these many types of compounds contained oxygen and some sulfur. In the present study the question is discussed which known carcinogens can be among this abundance of types of compounds. For this purpose at first the carcinogenic polycyclic aromatics with formulas CnH2n+Z, CnH2n+ZO, CnH2n+ZO2 and CnH2n+ZS and the metabolites containing oxygen are listed according to the characteristic of the mass spectrometric method. Pure hydrocarbons there are 62 and sulfur containing 2 carcinogenic compounds with all together 29 different molecular formulas. In the following some comments are made on the methods of analyzing polycyclics. Judged by molecular formulas all samples mentioned can include the CnH2+Z- and the Cn H2n+ZS-carcinogens almost completely. Beyond that in the emissions of the oiloven the occurrence of all carcinogens containing oxygen is possible. Besides these emissions contain aromatics which have the same molecular formulas and perhaps the same structures as for metabolites of carcinogenic polycyclics have been determined up to now. Among these probably are also epoxides considered as proximate metabolites.