Mutagenic profile of rubber dust and fume exposure in two rubber tire companies

The aim of this study was to evaluate current mutagenic activity of ambient rubber dust and fume exposure in the mixing and curing departments of two rubber tire companies situated in The Netherlands and Sweden. Salmonella ty phimurium strains YG1021, YG1024 and YG1041 were used to study the possible presence of mutagenic nitroarenes and aromatic amines. A large difference in mutagenic activity was found between the two companies. While the rubber tire company situated in The Netherlands revealed overall high mutagenic a ctivity of rubber dust and fumes in the mixing and curing departments, resp ectively, 430 and 279 rev/m(3) (YG1041), the Swedish company showed almost no mutagenic activity, respectively, 18 and 54 rev/m(3) (YG1041). Further i dentification of the mutagenic profile showed that mutagenic activity was e xclusively observed in S. typhimurium strains with elevated levels of O-ace tyltransferase activity (YG1041 and YG1024) in the presence of a metabolic active liver S9 fraction, possibly indicating the presence of indirect muta genic aromatic amines. These results show that although production processe s and lay-out within rubber tire companies are comparable, differences in r ubber chemicals used and overall level of control measures (e.g., good hous ekeeping, cleanliness) are likely to result in substantial differences in m utagenic exposure levels between companies. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.