Mutagenicity of products from coal gasification and liquefaction in the salmonella/microsome assay

Abstract

As a first step in the assessment of their possible bio-effects, coal-related materials were tested for mutagenicity in the Salmonella/microsome assay. Of three coal gasification by-products tested, only a tar was mutagenic for any of four Salmonella strains. The following liquefaction materials were mutagenic for strains TA1538, TA98, and/or TA100: A liquefaction vehicle oil and coal hydrogenation filtered liquid, separated bottoms, vacuum overhead, and vacuum bottoms. Neither powdered coal nor water produced as a by-product of the hydrogenation process was positive in the Salmonella test. No coal-related material was mutagenic for the missense mutant TA1535 or for any strain in the absence of metabolic activation provided by rat hepatic homogenates (S9). In all but one instance Aroclor 1254-induced S9 provided the maximum activation for mutagenesis. Fractionation of all samples was undertaken by serial extraction with organic solvents of increasing polarity (hexane, toluene, methylene chloride, acetonitrile). Highly mutagenic materials were found in fractions of the hydrogenation filtered liquid, vacuum overhead, and vacuum bottoms. Thus far non-mutagenic samples have not yielded mutagenic components upon fractionation.

Notes. Mutagenicity of SRC-II coal liquefaction wastewater treatment residues

“…Test results were uniformly negative where microsomal activation was not included in the test protocol. This agrees with reports by Epler et al (14), and Schoeny et al (11) of tests on cod conversion products and residues. All subsequent tests of the organic solvent extract fractions and the second lot of samples (2277-2280) included microsomal activation.…”

“…Warshawsky et al (10) conducted Ames tests on a group of residuals resulting from coal gasification and liquefaction. Schoeny et al (11) reported on extension of the aforementioned study that characterized powdered coal, wastewater from a hydrogenation process, and some coal conversion waste streams. In the above two studies, vacuum bottoms, a solid residual, were found to exhibit high mutagenic activity.…”

Mutagenicity of algal metabolites of benzo(a)pyrene for Salmonella typhimurium

“…Data from studies of complex organic mixtures have indicated that all such mixtures may not have biological activities that are equal to the summed bioactivities of the components [Rao et al, 1979;Salamone et al, 1979;Schoeny, et al, 1981;Somani et al, 19811. It was decided, therefore, to assay artificial mixtures of synthetic diols, quinones, and phenols for mutagenicity.…”