Total or inhalable (PM10) particulate matter is
monitored as a quality air criteria. Airborne
particles
deposit onto the differently sensitive biological tissues
of the respiratory tract depending on their size. So
it
is very important to know the mutagenic activity
(index of potential carcinogenicity) of the substances
carried onto the diverse sized fractions of urban
particulate matter, especially those under 1 μm in
diameter. The mutagenicity of total and sized
fractions
of urban particulate matter of Bologna (Italy),
representative of a medium size town surrounded by
small and medium industries, was investigated using
the plate incorporation test on Salmonella
typhimurium.
There is no correlation between total and/or coarse
particle matter concentration in air and mutagenic
activity, the correlation increases as the particle size
decreases; moreover, the finer the particulate matter,
the greater the mutagenicity is. That is of great
concern
for health risk estimation. Total or inhalable
(PM10)
particulate matter is not representative of air quality,
at least with regard to the
mutagenicity.
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