AAAR 33rd Annual Conference
October 20 - October 24, 2014
Rosen Shingle Creek
Orlando, Florida, USA
Abstract View
Mutagenicity of PAH and Nitro-Derived: An Assessment of Respirable Particulate Matter in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Claudia Rainho, SERGIO CORREA, Jose Mazzei, Claudia Aiub, Israel Felzenszwalb, Rio de Janeiro State University
Abstract Number: 49 Working Group: Linking Aerosols with Public Health in a Changing World
Abstract Some studies have correlated the mutagenic activity detected in the Salmonella/microsome assay with the levels of B[a]P and other nonsubstituted PAHs present in the samples, but recent reviews show that PAHs may not be the predominant mutagens in atmospheric pollution, and that nitro PAH, aromatic amines and aromatic ketones are potent mutagens. Nitro-PAHs are persistent environmental mutagens and can be found in airborne suspended particles from direct sources such as diesel and gasoline exhausts, or may be products of atmospheric reactions in the presence of NO2 and NO3 radicals. In the present work we compared PAH and Nitro-PAHs levels and mutagenicity using gas chromatography spectrometry and the Salmonella/microsome assay on organic extracts of PM2.5. The samples were collected in two periods: (I) July to October 2010 and (II) November 2010 to May 2011 at three sites in Rio de Janeiro – (1) low urban traffic at the University campus; (2) heavy urban traffic at Brasil Avenue and (3) Rebouças tunnel. For both periods, site 3 showed the highest concentrations of PAHs and nitro-PAHs. Period I showed the higher values of rev/m3. Mutagenic frameshift responses in the absence of metabolic activation were detected at all the sites in periods I and II. In the presence of metabolic activation this response was observed for all three sites in period I, but only for site 3 in period II. Nitroarenes and dinitroarenes were detected at all three sites in period I. In period II, the presence of nitroarenes was also detected at all sites, but dinitroarenes were only detected at sites 2 and 3. The information generated in this study shows that different levels of PAHs and nitroderivatives, influenced by seasonal variations in climatic conditions, probably contribute to the detected airborne mutagenicity.