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Mutagenicity studies on complex environmental mixtures: selection of solvent system for extraction
1Institute of Toxicology, National Food Agency, Søborg, Denmark.
Mutation Research
|January 1, 1992
Summary
Acetone extracts more mutagenic compounds from ambient air particulates than dichloromethane (DCM), but DCM is preferred for further analysis of complex environmental mixtures.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Chemistry
- Toxicology
- Analytical Chemistry
Background:
- Complex environmental mixtures, such as particulate matter, contain mutagenic compounds.
- Solvent extraction is crucial for analyzing these compounds using assays like the Salmonella/microsome assay.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the mutagenic activity of dichloromethane (DCM) and acetone extracts from environmental samples.
- To determine the optimal solvent for extracting mutagenic compounds from different types of particulate matter.
Main Methods:
- Soxhlet extraction of particulate matter with DCM and acetone.
- Salmonella/microsome assay (Ames test) using strains TA98 and TA98NR.
- Comparison of mutagenic activity between DCM and acetone extracts.
Main Results:
- Acetone extracts showed higher mutagenic activity than DCM for urban particulate matter.
- Diesel particulate matter showed minimal additional mutagenic activity with acetone extraction.
- No significant difference in mutagenic activity was observed between DCM and acetone extracts of suburban airport air particulates.
Conclusions:
- Acetone can extract additional mutagenic compounds from ambient air particulates not recovered by DCM.
- The effectiveness of acetone in extracting additional mutagens depends on the sample's composition.
- Dichloromethane is recommended as the primary solvent for general extraction and subsequent chemical analysis due to its suitability for fractionation.