AAAR 31st Annual Conference
October 8-12, 2012
Hyatt Regency Minneapolis
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Abstract View
Discerning the Chemical Composition and Mutagenic Effects of Soy Biodiesel PM
DAVID NASH, Esra Mutlu, William Preston, Michael Hays, Sarah Warren, Charly King, William Linak, M. Ian Gilmour, David DeMarini, U.S. EPA
Abstract Number: 299 Working Group: Health Related Aerosols
Abstract Exhaust particles from the combustion of traditional diesel fuel have been shown to lead to increases in adverse health effects such as impaired lung function, respiratory distress, and cardiovascular disease. This has resulted in an effort to find alternative fuels, such as soy-based biodiesel, that can replace traditional diesel. In the present study, the chemical composition and mutagenic effects of 0, 20, and 100% soy biodiesel (B0, B20, B100) PM emissions from a Yanmar L70 diesel engine and Pramac E3750 generator were examined. As expected, GC/QQQ analysis of the B100 extract shows more than 50% less polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) than are found in B0 and B20 per particle mass. The B100 extract was also shown to be less mutagenic than B0 and B20 when evaluated using the Salmonella (Ames) assay. However, the B20 extract contained ~40% more PAHs and was more mutagenic than B0. Hopanes, alkanes, organic acids and methyl esters were identified and are also presented for each biofuel blend. This study shows that PAHs are the main mutagenic driver and can be used to predict relative mutagenic potency of various biofuel blends. [Abstract does not necessarily reflect the policy of the US EPA.]