Atmospheric compounds: Merging the chemical and bioassay data.
01 January 1987
Recent data from both indoor and outdoor locations demonstrate that atmospheric compounds are genotoxic to many biological systems. To identify the chemical compounds and groups responsible for these effects, an extensive data base on atmospheric compounds has been merged with one on bioassayed chemicals. Of the more than 2800 identified atmospheric compounds, only about 11% have been bioassayed. The chemical groups containing the largest number of atmospheric compounds that have been bioassayed are multicyclic arenes, aromatic heterocyclic oxygen compounds, amines and amides, aromatic nitrogen compounds, heterocyclic nitrogen compounds, halogenated aromatic compounds, and halogenated pesticides. Groups for which bioassay data are scant include aldehydes, carboxylic acids and their derivatives, and ketones. Several emission sources are identified as profilic producers of compounds with positive bioassays.