Evaluation of acute toxicity and genotoxicity of liquid products from pyrolysis of Eucalyptus grandis wood

Abstract

Slow pyrolysis of Eucalyptus grandis wood was performed in an oven laboratory, and smoke was trapped and condensed to yield liquid products. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and phenolic fractions were isolated from the former liquid products using adsorption column chromatography (ACC) and identified by GC/MS. Concentrations of PAH and phenolic fractions in total pyrolysis liquids were respectively 48.9 microg/g and 8.59% (w/w). Acute toxicity of total samples of pyrolysis liquids and the phenolic fraction was evaluated by means of two bioassays, namely, 24-h immobilization bioassay with Daphnia magna and Microtox bioassays, the latter employing the luminescent bacteria Photobacterium phosphoreum. Total pyrolysis liquids and the PAH fraction were evaluated for genotoxicity by the Microtox bioassay conducted using rehydrated freeze-dried dark mutant of the luminescent bacteria Vibrio fisheri strain M169. Total pyrolysis liquids and the phenolic fraction, respectively, in concentrations of 170 and 68 mg/L were able to immobilize 50% (EC(50)) of the D. magna population following 24-h exposure. Concentrations of 19 and 6 mg/L, respectively, for total pyrolysis liquids and phenolic fraction were the effective concentrations that resulted in a 50% (EC(50)) reduction in light produced by bacteria in the Microtox bioassay. Accordingly, the Microtox bioassay was more sensitive to toxic effects of both kind of samples than the D. magna bioassay, particularly for the phenolic fraction. Regarding to the genotoxicity evaluation, the results achieved by Microtox bioassay showed that total pyrolysis liquids had no genotoxic effects with and without exogenous metabolic activation using rat liver homogenate (S9). However, the PAH fraction showed toxic effects with rat liver activation and had a dose-response number (DRN) equal to 1.6, being in this way suspected genotoxic. The lowest detected concentration (LDC) of the PAH fraction able to cause genotoxic effects was 375 microg/L.