[Organic compounds in urban aerosols and their mutagenicity]

The determination of the total particulate matter (TPM), the ether extractable organic matter (EEOM) and the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in urban aerosols of Berlin-Wedding and their biological testing (Ames test) has shown that: 1. the concentrations of EEOM and TPM are probably dependent on the wind direction whereas an influence of wind velocity and temperature cannot be stated on basis of our data. 2. in most cases the concentrations of EEOM and TPM are higher on workdays than on weekends, 3. the concentration of EEOM decreases from January till May, 4. the main portion of EEOM and nearly all PAH are concentrated in the smaller particles (aerodynamic diameters less than 1.4 micrometer), 5. the PAH with four and less than four benzene nuclei show maximal concentrations on workdays whereas higher condensed PAH show a maximum on weekends, 6. most of the ether-extracts exhibits mutagenicity in the Ames test, 7. extracts of the probably lung penetrating fractions 5 and 6 (impactor stages) mostly cause higher rates of mutation than those of the combined fractions 2-4 (main site of impaction: nose and bronchi), 8. the highest rates of mutations are received with EEOM from february-samples.