Credit: Heather Luis
Researchers say they have discovered compounds that are hundreds of times more mutagenic than known carcinogens.
These compounds are produced by certain types of chemical reactions, such as those found in vehicle exhaust or the reactions that take place when meat is grilled over a flame.
The discovery of these compounds raises additional concerns about the health impacts of heavily polluted urban air and dietary exposure to carcinogens, according to the researchers.
Their findings were published in Environmental Science and Technology.
“Some of the compounds that we’ve discovered are far more mutagenic than we previously understood and may exist in the environment as a result of heavy air pollution from vehicles or some types of food preparation,” said Staci Simonich, PhD, of Oregon State University College of Agricultural Sciences.
“We don’t know at this point what levels may be present and will explore that in continued research.”
The parent compounds involved in this research are polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are formed naturally as the result of almost any type of combustion.
Many PAHs, such as benzo[a]pyrene, have been shown to induce leukemias, lymphomas, and other cancers. PAHs are now believed to be more of a health concern than we thought in the past and are the subject of extensive research around the world.
PAHs can become even more of a problem when they chemically interact with nitrogen to become nitrated (NPAHs), according to scientists.
The newly discovered compounds are NPAHs that were unknown to this point. The researchers found the direct mutagenicity of the NPAHs with 1 nitrogen group can be 6 to 432 times more than the parent compound. NPAHs based on 2 nitrogen groups can be 272 to 467 times more mutagenic.
And the team said the mutagenic assays they used may actually have understated the increase in toxicity. It could be even higher.
