Measurements of volatile organic compounds (VOC) were made inside and outside eight East Tennessee homes. Air samples were collected on Tenax or Tenax-carbonaceous sorbents. Analyses were made by high-resolution gas chromatography flame ionization detection (GCFID) and gas chromatography mass spectroscopy (GCMS) with single-ion monitoring. Analyses were also made directly by injection of small air samples onto a portable gas chromatography photoionization detector (GCPID). The total indoor VOC (C/sub 5/ /minus/ C/sub 16/) estimated from the GCFID chromatograms averaged 1.0 mg/m/sup 3/ with a range of 0.1-3.7 mg/m/sup 3/. The mean outdoor concentration of these total VOC was an order of magnitude less (0.08 mg/m/sup 3/). An identification and quantitation were made of some of the individual compounds comprising the total VOC. The 12 target chlorinated VOC that were measured accounted for a mean concentration of 0.064 mg/m/sup 3/; methylene chloride at 19 ..mu..g/m/sup 3/ (6 ppb) and tetrachloroethylene at 22 ..mu..g/m/sup 3/ (3 ppb) were the two most abundant of these compounds. The sum concentration of toluene and xylene was 0.1 mg/m/sup 3/. Other intermediate volatility VOC account for 0.1-0.2 mg/m/sup 3/. Gasoline fumes were prevalent indoors, especially in houses with attached garages. Compared to houses without attached garages, themore » concentration of gasoline vapors and one of its characteristic constituents, 3-methylpentane, was about five-fold higher. The indoor-to-outdoor ratio of gasoline fumes was about 50:1 for houses with attached garages. 15 refs., 6 figs., 10 tabs.« less

High-boiling petroleum distillates are quite different from crude coal liquids of similar boiling range and more likel hydrotreated coal liquids in their content of PAH dermal tumorigens, tumorigenicity, and mutagenicity. Refining levels our differences in the composition among the crude oils, and lesser compositional differences are observed for their refined naphthas. Differences (if any) in the toxicity of the vapors of the naphthas are likely to be small and subtle. More complex and comprehensive biological testing would be required to quantitate differences in potential health effects. However, the results suggest that the HFO/HD and VGO distillates of these petroleum crude oils are not substantially more mutagenic or tumorigenic than the undistilled petroleum crude oils, in comparison to crude coal liquids. Thus, there do not appear to be any substantial advantages to preparing and using distillate fractions (at least of these) petroleum crude oils as benchmarks for comparative mutagenicity and tumorigenicity testing. The original data in the literature on unfractionated petroleum crude oils appear suitable for comparison with coal liquids. The concentrations of selected four- to six-ring PAH dermal tumorigens in the high boiling distillate fractions of lighter petroleum crude oils were found to be only ca. 2.5 times more concentratedmore » than in the undistilled crude oils. Further, these PAH in the distillate fractions were at least one to two orders of magnitude lower than in crude coal liquids of comparable boiling range, and more similar to those of hydrotreated coal liquids. 26 refs., 2 figs., 12 tabs.« less

The Department of Defense is concerned with determining if a changeover from petroleum- to shale oil-derived mobility fuels would be accompanied by a significantly different toxicological hazard. To address this issue, we are conducting a toxicological comparison of diesel fuels derived from shale oil and petroleum. Dermal and inhalation toxicology are current primary concern. This paper presents the current results of comparative chemical analyses of the fuels. A set of 11 diesel fuels representing industrial reference, military referee, military-purchased petroleum-derived diesel fuels, and two fuels from different shale oil retorting and refining operations, and a fuel from tar sands/petroleum coprocessing is being characterized. High resolution GC analysis of both the bulk fuels and their headspace vapor quantifies major components and generates ''fingerprints'' for relative compositional comparison. All the fuels share the same set of major components, consisting of Cg through C/sub 21/ n-paraffins at levels of 1 to 29 mg/g each. In addition, branched hydrocarbons, di- and triaromatic hydrocarbons are visualized. The inhalable vapors from the fuels consist mainly of C/sub 2/-C/sub 10/ hydrocarbons. Consistent differences between shale oil- and petroleum-derived diesel fuels as groups have been observed for minor components (ca. <1 mg/g each) in both the fuels andmore » their inhalable vapors. In addition, individual fuels within each group can be distinguished. Separate measurements of benzene (<0.01-0.08 mg/g) and C/sub 1/-C/sub 4/ alkyl benzenes (generally 0.3-1 mg/g) show similar levels in the two sets of fuels. The benzo (a) pyrene levels in two shale oil-derived diesel fuels (0.03 and 0.09 ..mu..g/g) fall within the range observed for petroleum-derived diesel fuels, although the highest concentration (0.84 ..mu..g/g) was found in a darkly colored petroleum-derived DF-2. 15 refs., 2 figs., 4 tabs.« less

Studies of experimental tobacco smoke carcinogenesis have suffered from the lack of a conveniently available and well-characterized device for exposing animals to tobacco smoke for inhalation. The Walton Horizontal Smoking Machine, a commercially available system designed to expose up to 20 mice to the smoke of a single cigarette, may fulfill this need. This system produced a uniform smoke aerosol of predictable concentration and appropriate composition for cigarettes with high delivery of nicotine (40 mg total particulate matter, 2.6 mg nicotine, and 17 cm3 carbon monoxide per cigarette) and with low delivery of nicotine (30 mg total particulate matter, 0.3 mg nicotine, and 17 cm3 carbon monoxide). In this experiment C57BL and DBA/2Bd strains of mice were used. Limitations of the concept of exposing animals to standing smoke were defined.