Mutagenicity of organic emissions from unvented kerosene heaters in a chamber study

A study was conducted to assess the mutagenicity of semivolatile organics and particle-bound organics emitted from unvented kerosene space heaters. The units tested included a well-tuned radiant heater and a maltuned convective heater. The tests were conducted in a 27-m3 chamber with a prescribed on/off heater usage pattern. The organic emissions were collected on Teflon-coated glass filters backed by XAD-2 resin. The dichloromethane-extractable organics from both the filters and the XAD were analyzed for nitropolycyclic hydrocarbons using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, and were bioassayed for mutagenicity in microsuspension assays using Salmonella typhimurium strains TA98 with and without S9 and TA98NR (a nitroreductase-deficient strain) without S9. The results showed that both the semivolatile and particle-bound organics emitted from the kerosene heaters were mutagenic, and the presence of nitropolycyclic hydrocarbons in these organic emissions substantiated these findings.