Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and mutagens in ambient air particles sampled in Thessaloniki, Greece

Abstract

Seventy samples of airborne particulates were sampled from two sites in Thessaloniki, Greece, during the period of one year, starting in July 1987. Thessaloniki is located in the northeastern part of Greece and is the second most highly populated city of the country. The 24‐h samples were taken by using high‐volume samplers located in two monitoring sites — 1 and 2. Site 1 was located at the center of the city (main pollution sources were traffic and central heating), whereas site 2 was in the industrial zone of the city (main sources were industrial activities and traffic). The collected particulates were examined for their mutagenicity with the Ames test. The analysis of particulates to determine their content in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was done by the gas chromatographic method. The column used to separate the various PAHs was a wide‐bore capillary column. Ten PAHs were identified and quantified in the atmosphere of Thessaloniki. No essential differences were found between the mean values of PAH concentrations measured at the two sites, whereas the mutagenicity values at site 1 (central area) were higher than those measured at site 2 (industrial site). The PAH concentrations were moderate if compared with those found in other polluted cities in the world, whereas the mutagenic activity of particulates was low. Higher values of PAH concentrations and mutagenicity were found during winter. During Sundays the PAH concentrations were lower than those measured on weekdays. No significant linear correlation was found between PAH concentrations and mutagenicity for both sites of measurements. The main sources of PAHs were estimated to be the stationary sources in winter and the traffic in summer for both measuring sites. Higher values of both PAH concentrations and mutagenicity were found during days with light winds.

Gas-Particle Partitioning of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Urban, Adjacent Coastal, and Continental Background Sites of Western Greece

“…The lack of significant seasonality of the gas-phase ΣPAH might be attributable to the temperature-dependent g/p partitioning and/or potential volatilization of PAHs from contaminated surfaces (4). In general, the observed particle-phase concentrations of PAHs determined in the present study are comparable to the concentrations found at other urban and rural locations in Greece (14,(17)(18)(19)(20)(21). Both the particle-and the gas-phase concentrations varied widely during the sampling periods as a result of variations in emissions from different sources and the prevailing atmospheric conditions.…”

“…dry and wet deposition, air−water exchange). Several studies conducted in Greece during the last two decades were focused primarily on particle-phase PAHs ( − ), while there are extremely limited data available concerning the g/p distribution of these compounds ( , ). This study represents the largest data set of gas and particulate phase PAHs, TSP, and temperatures assessed simultaneously in urban, adjacent coastal, and continental background sites in Greece.…”

In situ monitoring of urban air in Córdoba, Argentina using the Tradescantia-micronucleus (Trad-MCN) bioassay

“…devoid of high traffic load. Moreover, there is a positive dose-response relationship between micronuclei frequency and TSP, an estimator of air pollution, which is consistent with previous observations reporting that extracts of urban aerosol induced genotoxicity in animals, plants, mammalian cells and bacteria (Viras et al, 1991;Crebelli et al, 1995, Batalha et al, 1999. These results indicate that under field conditions, gradients of ambient levels of air pollution are associated with an indicator of DNA damage.…”

Assessment of mutagenicity and toxicity of different‐size fractions of air particulates from La Plata, Argentina, and Leipzig, Germany

“…However, little data exists regarding the toxic and mutagenic effects of particles smaller than 2.5 m, even though these particles pose a higher risk to human health (Hsiao et al, 2000;Ronco et al, 2001). A higher contribution to mutagenic potency by organic compounds bound to fine particles (Ͻ1.5 m) has previously been reported in studies carried out in Greece (Viras et al, 1991, Tzounou et al, 1992 and Italy (Pagano et al, 1996;Monarca et al, 1997), tallying with the results reported here. In addition, our results showed a significant correlation of mutagenic effects with the levels of carcinogenic PAHs and BaP in respirable particle fractions smaller than 1.5 m and 0.49 m. This correlation was not observed for coarser particles (Table VI).…”