Evaluation of the genotoxicity of process stream extracts from a coal gasification system

Extracts of three complex organic environmental mixtures, two from an experimental coal gasifier (a raw gas and a clean gas sample) and one from a coke oven main, were examined for genotoxicity. Three short-term genotoxicity assay systems were used: Ames Salmonella typhimurium reverse mutation assay, Chinese hamster ovary cell/hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl transferase (CHO/HGPRT) gene locus mutation assay, and the Chinese hamster lung primary culture/sister chromatid exchange (CHL/SCE) assay. Aroclor-1254-induced rat liver homogenate fraction (S-9) was required to observe genotoxicity in both gene locus mutation assays (CHO/HGPRT and Ames). The relative survival of CHO cells exposed to extracts was highest in cells exposed to clean gas samples, with the raw gas sample being the most cytotoxic either with or without the addition of S-9. All three complex mixtures induced sister chromatid exchanges in primary lung cell cultures without the addition of S-9. The relative genotoxicity ranking of the samples varied between the mammalian and prokaryotic assay systems. Coke oven main extract produced fewer revertants in bacteria than the raw gas sample. However, the coke oven main extract was more genotoxic in the two eukaryotic systems (CHL/SCE and CHO/HGPRT) than was the raw gas sample. The results of all three assays indicate that the cleanup process used in the experimental gasifier was effective in decreasing the genotoxic materials in the process stream. These data also reemphasize the necessity of evaluating genotoxicity of complex mixtures in a variety of short-term systems.