The relationship between mutagenicity and chemical composition of polycyclic aromatic compounds from coal pyrolysis

The polycyclic aromatic compounds (PAC) produced from the pyrolysis of a bituminous coal at temperatures of 1125 to 1425 degrees K prove to be mutagenic to S. typhimurium, both in the presence and in the absence of postmitochondrial supernatant (PMS) prepared from Aroclor 1254-induced rat liver. Mutagenicity of the PAC samples measured in the absence of PMS exhibits little dependence on pyrolysis temperature; that measured in its presence is higher at the higher pyrolysis temperatures. However, because of the decrease in PAC yield as the temperature is raised, mutagenicity per mass of coal consumed falls with an increase in temperature if measured without PMS (-PMS) and peaks at an intermediate temperature of 1378 degrees K if measured with PMS (+PMS). Using a new chromatographic technique, we have split each coal-derived PAC sample into two fractions: LC1, containing PAC with alkyl and O-containing substitutions and LC2, consisting of unsubstituted PAC. Substituted (LC1) fractions show no significant +PMS mutagenicity, indicating that, as a whole, the alkylated PAC in our coal pyrolysis products are not mutagenic. Only at the higher temperatures do the substituted fractions exhibit significant -PMS mutagenicity, attributed to PAC with carbonyl or etheric functionalities. The extremely low yields of the substituted PAC under the conditions where they show some activity, however, ensure that they contribute little to overall mutagenicity. In contrast to the substituted fractions, the unsubstituted (LC2) fractions display significant mutagenicity under all conditions and appear to be responsible for virtually all of the mutagenicity in these coal-derived PAC samples. In this fraction, -PMS activity is attributed to nitrogen-containing heterocyclic aromatics.