Environ Monit Assess (2013) 185:8707–8713 DOI 10.1007/s10661-013-3206-3
Ecotoxicity and genotoxicity assessment of exhaust particulates from diesel-powered buses Nora Kováts & András Ács & Árpád Ferincz & Anikó Kovács & Eszter Horváth & Balázs Kakasi & Beatrix Jancsek-Turóczi & András Gelencsér
Received: 30 August 2012 / Accepted: 9 April 2013 / Published online: 23 April 2013 # Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013
Abstract Diesel exhaust is one of the major sources of fine and ultra-fine particulate matter in urban air. Toxicity of diesel-powered engine emissions has been quite widely assessed; however, much less information is available on their ecotoxicity. In our study, the kinetic version of the Vibrio fischeri bioluminescence inhibition bioassay based on the ISO 21338:2010 standard was used to characterise the ecotoxicity of diesel-powered buses. It is a direct contact test in which solid samples are tested in suspension and test organisms are in direct contact with toxic particles. The age of the selected buses fell into a wide range; the oldest one was produced in 1987. Diesel engines of different emission standards (Euro0–Euro4) were included. Measured EC50 values of Euro0–Euro1 engine emissions fell into the same range, 1.24–0.96 μg ml−1, respectively. On the contrary, emission of Euro4 vehicle proved to be non-toxic. Genotoxic potential of the samples was also estimated, using the colorimetric SOSchromotest™. Genotoxicity was detected also for Euro0 and Euro1 buses, showing correlation with the ecotoxic potential. The fact that the particulates from Euro4 vehicles did not show ecotoxic/genotoxic effect implies that replacing old Euro1 and Euro2 buses can be a N. Kováts (*) : A. Ács : Á. Ferincz : A. Kovács : E. Horváth : B. Kakasi : B. Jancsek-Turóczi : A. Gelencsér Institute of Environmental Sciences, University of Pannonia, Egyetem Str. 10, 8200 Veszprém, Hungary e-mail:
[email protected]
highly effective solution for reducing environmental hazard of automotive emissions. The whole-aerosol testing method is a cheap alternative that can be used in engine developments and emission control. Keywords Diesel exhaust emission ecotoxicity . Genotoxicity . Kinetic luminescent bacteria test . Direct contact test
Introduction Airborne particulate matter (PM) is usually grouped by its aerodynamic diameter as coarse (≤10 μm, PM10) or fine (≤2.5 μm, PM2.5). Diesel exhaust is one of the major sources of fine and ultra-fine (
