Chemical and mutagenic analysis of volatile organic compounds in Raleigh air samples at three different elevations before, during, and after Hurricane Gordon.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were collected and measured at a television tower 10 km southeast of downtown Raleigh, North Carolina at three different levels (Surface, < 1 m; Mid, 240 m; and Top, 433 m) during the summer and fall of 1994. The combined presence of ozone, arenes, and nitrogen oxides (NOx) suggested possible nitration of arenes during atmospheric mixing. Air samples, therefore, were collected using XAD-filled canisters at each level on the tower prior to, during, and after Hurricane Gordon. Collected air samples were Soxhlet extracted and analyzed with the Salmonella typhimurium microsuspension mutagenicity assay using strains YG1021 and YG1026 which are sensitive to nitrarenes. Significant mutagenicity was observed only in the Top and Mid level samples for the post-hurricane, normal weather air samples. Surface samples were not mutagenic, which suggests the long-range transport of these mutagenic nitrarenes.