Mutagenic activities of exhaust gas and ash from sludge incineration plants

Abstract

We have found that the exhaust gas from many incineration plants of municipal solid wastes (MSW) show significant mutagenic activities. The mutagenic activities of exhaust gas from incineration plants of the other wastes have not been studied in detail. Here, we analyzed the mutagenic activities and compounds in exhaust gas and ash from seven sludge incineration plants. Some samples of the exhaust gas from the sludge incineration plants showed high mutagenic activities; although, none of the ash residues showed mutagenic activities. There was no relationship between the mutagenic activities and furnace types, the plant size or the apparent residence time of the gas in the furnace. The mutagenic activities of the exhaust gas were produced during incomplete combustion at lower temperatures. Direct mutagenic activities without S9 mix were higher than indirect mutagenic activities with S9 mix which was made from rat liver homogenate and was used to test mutagenic activity after metabolism. These results are different to those of MSW incineration plants. We analyzed the mutagenic compounds in the exhaust gas by GC/MS after fractionation by HPLC, but they could not be identified. We found that the mutagenic compounds in the exhaust gas were different from the compounds that were produced from the MSW incineration plants. We believed that these mutagenic compounds might be non-volatile and more polar than the heterocyclic amines, Trp-P-2, Trp-P-1 and Glu-P-1, which are typical mutagenic compounds in sewage and sludge.