Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

B Commoner

Publications and source records attributed to B Commoner.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1978

Formation of mutagens in beef and beef extract during cooking.

Mutagens, distinguishable from benzo[a]pyrene and from mutagenic amino acid and protein pyrolysis products, are formed when ground beef is cooked in a home hamburger cooking appliance or when beef stock is concentrated, by boiling, to a paste known commercially as beef extract. "Well-done" hamburgers contain about 0.14 part per million of the mutagens, and beef bouillon cubes which contain beef extract about 0.1 part per million. Since such mutagens may be potentially carcionogenic and are formed during ordinary cooking procedures, their occurrence raises questions about possible risks to human health.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Environmental mutagens in urban air particulates.

A bioassay capable of detecting carcinogenic substances that are associated with the elevated incidence of cancer in the urban environment would be important for epidemiologic and environmental analyses. The feasibility of using the Salmonella mutagenesis system developed by Ames for this purpose has been tested by analyzing Chicago air particulate samples. Active material, as evidenced by enhanced rates of mutation, both in the presence of microsomes and in their absence, is readily extractable from samples of air particulates. Dose-response curves have been obtained from such extracts of 15 successive samples, taken at intervals during 1975 from a sampling site in South Chicago. A method for analyzing such data in order to evaluate the relative mutagenic activity of different samples is described. The presence of a number of mutagenic constituents has been demonstrated by means of thin-layer chromatography of particularly active samples, in which the active material is located by mutagenic analysis of successive chromatographic zones. Mass spectrometer analysis of material isolated from an original sample in this way indicates that benzo[a]pyrene and benzo[e]pyrene, which are known to be mutagenic and carcinogenic, are present. It is concluded that within certain constraints, which are described, the methodology can serve the purpose of an environmental bioassay for organic carcinogens.

Air Pollutants↗
PubMed1978

Isolation of mutagens from bacterial nutrients containing beef extract.

The enhanced rate of mutation of Salmonella strain TA1538 (Ames) by microsomes results from the presence of about 2--5 ppm of microsome-activatable mutagens in bacterial nutrient broths that contain beef extract. Since mutagens toward Salmonella are likely to be carcinogenic, the data have significant implications for the problem of carcinogenesis.

Animals↗