Detoxication disturbances and uncoupling effects in vitro of some chlorinated guaiacols, catechols and benzoquinones.

The effects of chlorinated guaiacols, catechols and benzoquinones - earlier identified in discharges from pulp and paper mills -- on oxidative phosphorylation in mitochondria and on detoxication mechanisms in microsomes have been investigated. The same biological systems have been used in testing outgoing water from a sulphite plant. Trichlorocatechol and tetrachlorocatechol and the corresponding guaiacols increase N oxygenation of N,N-dimethylaniline, while C-oxygenation decreases, indicating disturbances in microsomal detoxication. The substances tested have in general an uncoupling effect on mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation. However, tetrachloroguaiacol seems to differ in having a specific effect on the succinate dehydrogenase part of the respiratory chain. Extracts from waste water from a sulphite plant have a considerable effect on the mitochondrial system such as to produce an increase in basal respiration and a loss of respiratory control. N- and C-oxygenation and phosphorylation have been extensively used in this and other laboratories for evaluating the toxicity of chemicals. The application on water extract described here is rapid and easily handled and thus provides a valuable complement to other water quality tests.