Salmonella mutagenicity of three complex mixtures assayed with the microsuspension technique. A WHO/IPCS/CSCM study.

In a collaborative study on complex mixtures, three complex mixtures and two pure compounds were assayed with the Salmonella microsuspension technique. The two pure compounds were benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) and 1-nitropyrene (1-NP). The three complex mixtures were standard reference materials (SRMs) from the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology, SRM 1649, SRM 1650 and SRM 1597. The two samples SRM 1649, an urban dust particulate matter, and SRM 1650, a diesel particulate matter, were sonicated with dichloromethane. Sample SRM 1597 was an extract of a coal tar sample with a complex mixture of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The microsuspension assay was performed with Salmonella strains TA98 and TA100 according to Kado et al. (1983) with minor modifications (Löfroth et al., 1988). The results showed that the microsuspension technique is a more sensitive assay than the plate incorporation method. Depending on sample, strain and metabolic condition the mutagenic responses were 3-37 times higher in the microsuspension assay than in the conventional plate incorporation assay. The microsuspension method is thus useful for environmental samples which are often available in only small amounts.