Interaction of DNA with aromatic hydrocarbons fraction in atmospheric particulates of Xigu District of Lanzhou, China

Voluminously epidemiological studies show that the relationships exist between the air pollution and human health and cancer. Aromatic hydrocarbons (AHs) in air form a large class of organic pollutants, which are widely in environment and many of them are known to be carcinogenic and/or mutagenic and contribute to ambient air pollution. In the past decades, bioassays mainly have been used to evaluate the toxicity of chemical mixtures in atmospheric particulates or aqueous environment. However, it is well known that the covalent complexes formed by carcinogens with DNA may be exert negative results in bioassay. So the main aim of this paper is to develop an evaluation method of toxicity effects of chemical mixtures in atmospheric particulates from chemical standpoint. In this study, the in vitro interaction of the AHs with DNA was investigated by absorption, fluorescence and resonance light scattering (RLS) spectroscopic techniques. The results showed that the AHs in the atmospheric particulates could combine with calf thymus DNA (ctDNA) and herring sperm DNA (hsDNA) without being activated or metabolized by organism, respectively. Intercalation may be present in the mechanism of interaction. The binding constants of the AHs with ctDNA and hsDNA were 2.5x10(2) and 2.0x10(3), respectively, which indicated that the interaction of the AHs with hsDNA is stronger than that with ctDNA. In addition, the relationships of dose-effect between the total mole concentration of chemical components and the ability of binding ctDNA and hsDNA were confirmed. This research made it possible to study the toxicity effects of chemical mixtures in atmospheric particulates by chemical method. It is believed that the composition and contents of unknown AHs and the interaction of DNA with AHs in atmospheric particulates of Xigu District of Lanzhou City, China are first reported in the past twenty years.