Identification of polycyclic aromatic compounds in mutagenic emissions from steel casting

Workers in ferrous foundries show increased risk of lung cancer. In the steel casting process hot metal is poured into sand moulds solidified with organic binders, producing a plume of smoke containing a variety of organic compounds and showing strong mutagenicity in the Salmonella/S9 assay. We have collected the emissions produced when steel is poured into an experimental sand mould solidified with oil, clay and cereal, a widely used binder system. The organic constituents of these emissions have been fractionated by preparative reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and mutagenic fractions have been analysed by capillary column gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Of the 65 compounds for which mass spectra are reported, 54 have been tentatively identified as alkyl derivatives of polycyclic aromatic compounds. Many compounds of this class are known to be carcinogenic and mutagenic. In addition, several unsubstituted polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, including the carcinogenic benz[a]anthracene and benzo[a]pyrene, were found to be present.