The mutagenic and SOS-inducing potential of the soluble organic fraction collected from diesel particulate emissions.

Studies involving the Ames Salmonella mutagenicity test and the Bacillus subtilis comptest have demonstrated that the soluble organic fraction of diesel particulate is potentially mutagenic and DNA damaging. The soluble organic fraction was extracted from exhaust particulate samples collected from four different diesel engines operated at specified conditions. For each fraction collected, an increase in the concentration of the organic material resulted in a subsequent increase in the number of histidine prototrophs obtained when this material was added to the histidine auxotrophic strains that comprise the Ames Salmonella test.