14 DAY TRIAL // A new paper in the journal Environmental Science and Technology details the discovery of several chemical compounds that the scientific community previously had no idea of.
The specialists who authored the paper explain that, according to their investigations, these newly found chemical compounds are about 400 times more mutagenic than the carcinogens that have thus far been documented.
Environment News Service tells us that a mutagenic compound is one that has the ability to cause the genetic material inside a living organism to undergo one or more mutations.
By upping the number of mutations occurring in an organism, such compounds can lead to the onset of cancer, the same source explains.
In their report, scientists with the Oregon State University, the University of California-Riverside, the Texas A&M University, and the Peking University detail that these highly mutagenic compounds form due to chemical reactions that take place in vehicle exhaust.
Besides, they can come into existence whenever meat is grilled, the specialists go on to argue.
The researchers reached this conclusion after carrying out a series of laboratory experiments during which they mimicked the environmental conditions resulting either from combustion in vehicles, or from grilling a chunk of meat over an open flame.
The compounds that serve as “parents” for the highly mutagenic chemicals (i.e. the so-called parent compounds) are polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, otherwise known as PAHs.
According to the scientists, PAHs form almost always when combustion takes place.
Although PAHs can constitute a health threat in themselves, what worries the specialists involved in this investigation is the fact that, when they come in contact with nitrogen, these chemicals become even more dangerous.
More precisely, they become “nitrated” and give birth to a new series of compounds named NPAHs. It is these chemicals that are worryingly mutagenic.
Thus, NPAHs with one nitrogen group can be 6 – 432 times more mutagenic than their “daddy.” NPAHs with two nitrogen groups, on the other hand, have been documented to be 272 – 467 times more mutagenic than their parent compounds.
“Some of the compounds that we’ve discovered are far more mutagenic than we previously understood, and may exist in the environment as a result of heavy air pollution from vehicles or some types of food preparation,” explains Professor Staci Simonich.
“We don’t know at this point what levels may be present, and will explore that in continued research,” the specialist goes on to add.
The researchers wish to continue investigating these chemical compounds and hope to obtain information concerning their impact on public health and the environment.