Evaluation of The Potential Health Effects of the Atmospheric Reaction Products of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons

Dr. Arey and colleagues of the University of California, Riverside, examined the genotoxic potential of two PAHs (naphthalene and phenanthrene) that are common air pollutants, and a subset of their atmospheric transformation products. The investigators evaluated the genotoxicity of these compounds using a variety of human cell lines with a range of metabolic capabilities. They examined the ability of these compounds to produce small-scale (damage to genes) and large-scale (damage to chromosomes) genetic damage.