2 YEARS AIR MUTAGENESIS MONITORING IN A NORTHWESTERN RURAL AREA OF ITALY WITH AN INDUSTRIAL-PLANT

The mutagenicity of organic extracts from inhalable airborne particles , collected in a northwestern rural area of Italy in which an industri al plant producing chemical intermediates is present, was assessed dur ing the years 1989 and 1990. The Ames plate test with Salmonella strai ns TA98 and TA100 with and without metabolic activation was used. Eigh t sites in the first and three sites in the second year were monitored once and twice a month respectively. Results show that the mutagenici ty of air particulate matter reaches maximum values in the cold months and is not dependent on plant activities. In addition, a correlation analysis between mutagenicity data and number of vehicles seems to ind icate traffic emissions as the main source of mutagens.