FRACTIONATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC COMPOUNDS IN MUTAGENIC EXTRACTS OF STEEL FOUNDRY PARTICULATES.

Workers in ferrous foundries show an 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 that exhibit strong mutagenicity in microbial mutagenesis assays. We have collected particulates from the foundry, as well as emissions produced when molten steel is poured into an experimental sand mould solidified with various binder systems. The organic constituents of these samples have been fractionated by column chromatography. Mutagenically active fractions have been analyzed by capillary column GC-MS and microbore HPLC-MS.